Luchetta Prize: the awards ceremony and three days of debate on all wars in Trieste

Ukrainian children born in the hospital basement under the bombs of war. Children growing up within the walls of the Syrian prison where their mothers, former members of the Islamic State, are detained. Malnourished children like their parents in Afghanistan in the midst of the economic crisis, but also Western children and young people whose health and psyche are damaged by hyperconnection and dependence on social media. And the Argentine grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo who almost fifty years later continue to investigate the disappearance of their grandchildren under the military regime.

These are the themes of the winning reports of the Marco Luchetta International Journalism Award, dedicated to the Rai crew killed by a grenade in Mostar in 1994 while producing a report on nameless children. In addition to Luchetta, they perished Alessandro Saša Ota e Dario D’Angelo. The Award also honors the memory of Miran Hrovatinmurdered in Mogadishu with Ilaria Alpi in the same year. The event, promoted annually to raise awareness of violated and threatened children around the world, is now in its twentieth edition.

From November 17th to 19th, Trieste will become the capital of journalism that denounces and questions the problems of the world, also opening up to the very dramatic current situation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a focus on the opening evening of Friday 17th. A series of meetings on Saturday 18th on the issues of the consequences of climate change on the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the south of the world, of forgotten conflicts, of those before everyone’s eyes, of those disappeared under dictatorships or along migratory routes and of the conditions of youth at risk even in areas of greater well-being. Among the international experts who will speak, there is the climatologist Philip GiorgiNobel Peace Prize 2007, while Riccardo Iaconahost of Direct Intake on Rai3, will present the book on the sixtieth anniversary of the tragedy Never again Vajont – 1963-2023 (Fuoriscena) edited together with Paolo Di Stefano correspondent of Corriere della Sera.
The winners of Marco Luchetta International Journalism Award 2023 I am: Vincenzo Frenda of TG2, in the TVNews category with “Life born underground”, a report from the Zythomyr hospital in Ukraine, where the maternity ward has been moved underground and children are brought into the world amid constant risks of explosions and blackouts; Celine Martelet by Middle East Eyes, in the International Press category with “Syria: Abandoned by their countries, children of Islamic State women educated in prison”, story of the hard life of foreign women, detained in a prison in north-eastern Syria, together with their children; Marco Gualazziniby InsideOver in the Photography category with “Hunger for sanctions – and this will be our Afghanistan”, which documents the drama of Shazia Saydi, a mother of seven children who is unable to guarantee the necessary care for her little Setayesh, suffering from acute malnutrition; Sabrina Carreras, Lisa Iotti, Irene Sicurella e Antonella Bottini Of Direct Intake Rai3 in the Reportage category with “The Black Box”, analysis of the serious consequences that the abuse of the internet and social media produces in very young people from 9 to 20 years old between changes in the brain structure and a boom in anxiety, depression and anger and at the same time a journey into schools that have begun to implement education and prevention experiences; Elena BassoOf Republic in the Italian press category with “Argentina seeks you”, an account of the obstinacy of grandmothers who have not stopped seeking the truth about their grandchildren who disappeared in Argentina in the seventies. The prizes, assigned by a jury composed of authoritative journalists and newspaper editors and chaired by Maria Concetta Mattei, they will be delivered on the final day of Sunday 19th at the Miela Theatre.

The three days of the Award will open on Friday 17th at 6pm in the auditorium of the Revoltella Museum with a focus on the theme of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict entitled “An Award so that wars do not make children disappear” hosted by Maria Concetta Mattei, president of the jury , director of the School of Journalism of Perugia and historical face of TG2 and Italian TV, with the participation of Daniela Schifani Corfini Luchetta, president of the Luchetta Ota D’Angelo Hrovatin Foundation, who will focus on the Foundation’s activities and why twenty years later it still makes sense to promote a journalism award. Following are the contributions of Luisa Morgantiniformer vice-president of the European Parliament in charge of European policies for Africa and human rights and founder and member of the Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, of Francesco Battistinicorrespondent of Courier of the Serae writer, of Anna Maria Selinijournalist and author of the podcast “Oslo 30” on the failed peace between Israelis and Palestinians and of some voices in the field in connection with the auditorium.
Saturday, scheduled at the Miela Theatre, will be dedicated to in-depth analysis of current affairs with five panels. “Time is over” with the Nobel Prize winning climatologist Filippo Giorgi e Nadia Zicoschi of TV7 and TG1, will deal with the repercussions of climate change in the poor areas of the world including the collapse of life expectancy, forced migrations and school dropouts. “Ukraine 21 months later”, with Vincenzo Frenda del TG2, Luciana Colbird Of A clean sweep-LA7, Dan Johnson Of BBC News, Martin Pludadirector for Italy of Human Society International, an international organization for the protection of animals and In the excavationcorrespondent of Future, will be a focus on children’s problems in Ukraine. “There are wars that are no longer news” with Celine Martelet Of Middle East Eyes, Fermin Torrano Of Our time e Marco Gaulazzini Of InsideOver, will frame violence against children in war zones ignored by international consideration. “Suddenly disappearing”, with Elena Basso by Republic, Raffaella Cosentino of RaiNews, Alessandra Ballerini, human rights lawyer and lawyer for the family of Giulio Regeni and Gianfranco Schiavone, president of Ics-Italian Solidarity Consortium, will bring attention to mass deaths and disappearances in a world that is globalized and dominated by social media. “The fragile society” with Lisa Iotti, Sabrina Carreras, Irene Sicurella, Antonella Bottini of Presa Diretta Rai3 e Sabrina Pisu dell’Espresso, will highlight the many different vulnerabilities of the “existential peripheries” of our country and of more advanced Europe. The book will also be presented during the evening Never again Vajont 1963-2023. A story that still speaks to us by Riccardo Iacona and Paolo di Stefano: a complete volume on one of Italy’s greatest tragedies which marks its sixtieth anniversary, with the most important articles and reports on the case, the reconstruction of the long judicial battle, of the political exploitations, of the contemptuous indifference towards ordinary people and of the connivance between public officials and industrial groups, the discrimination against Tina Merlin and the lesson still relevant in light of the looming environmental crisis.