Once a year, Perugia (Italy) hosts the International Journalism Festival, the biggest annual media event in Europe. Hundreds of speakers from all over the world meet in the historical centre of Perugia to discuss about journalism or present innovative media projects. This year, I have had the honour to be part of the team behind the festival as a writer of the Web Magazine. This is a compilation of the stories I covered and the interviews I conducted.
Interview with Ece Temelkuran: how to confront the ‘post-truth’, the Turkish lesson.
The Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran shares her experience in dealing with the post-truth in Turkey, in order to help US and European journalists to confront the populists’ narrative.
Interview with Zaina Erhaim: covering the Syrian war as a journalist, activist and woman.
Zaina Erhaim, a Syrian journalist and activist, narrates all the difficulties a Syrian national encounters while covering the war.
Postcards from Guantanamo: the untold story of the prisoners’ families.
Abdusalam used to be a double secret agent; Salman was travelling in search his brother who (Salman didn’t know) was working with Al Qaida in Pakistan; Haiel happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Abdusalam, Salman and Haiel are three of the 52 Yemeni imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay. They all have families back home in Yemen demanding justice for them. Laura Silvia Battaglia, a freelance journalist who lives between Italy and Sanaa (Yemen), has told their stories in a book called ‘Postcards from Guantanamo’ that she presented on 6 April 2017 at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia.
How throttling internet has become a way of censorship in Turkey.
Journalists and researchers explain why internet shutdowns in Turkey are making it harder for journalists to do their job hence are significantly limiting freedom of expression in the country.
Pollsters versus media, better understanding for better information.
Pollsters and media practitioners discuss why polls have failed to predict the results of major recent events such as the US elections or the Brexit referendum.
Sustainable and inclusive media: how to promote a more diverse society and avoid bankruptcy.
A group of experts share their experiences in working to build a better society and ensuring the economic viability of media outlets.
From TV to Social Video: dare to do it and don’t be afraid to fail!
A video on US gold medal gymnast Simon Biles produced by the New York Times, which is definitely not a broadcast media, has 57 millions of views and has been shared uncountable times. This video breaks all possible TV rules in terms of audio, length and format. “So what?”, is the message by video editors working at known media such as the BBC, Deutsche Well or Business Times UK, who spoke on 6th April at the International Journalism Festival about best practices in using and producing social videos.
