National, Racial or Ethnic origin, Roma, Religion or Belief, Gender Dimension
Internazionale – www.internazionale.it
Programme Description:
In Italy, the print media is often a closed door to immigrants who are entering the country and looking for work. Literature written by immigrants, in Italian, is woefully under represented. No national newspaper has regular content written by a person with foreign origins. Internazionale, a weekly magazine focusing on culture and politics, decided to open their publication to writers whose voice, they believed, was not being heard. The team felt their readers wanted an alternative perspective on Italy as a culture and a country. A section entitled ‘L’Italia vista dai nuovi Italiani’ or in English ‘Italy Seen by New Italians’ was introduced. Rather than simply publishing articles on immigration issues Internazionale gave immigrants a platform to share their own personal experiences of living in Italy.
Invitations were extended to 15 different writers spread across the country, half of which were women. The content they produce is on a wide range of different topics. All the contributors are free to choose the issues they address and the content ranges from discussions on racism, discrimination or examples of positive integration in to the community. Internazionale has also partnered with the NGO Cospe to publish 11 stories written by other immigrant journalists.
Challenge:
Finding the right writers to contribute to the section.
Solution:
A great deal of research was carried out to find the right contributors. Internazionale spoke to experts in immigration, university professors and read a large amount of Italian literature written by immigrants to ensure strong dynamic candidates were identified.
Impact and Success Stories:
The feedback has been extremely positive. The contributors are often asked to participate in round tables and other events to discuss immigration or racism in Italy. This means that the public can now listen to a new point of view.
Quotes:
‘Its originality, however, lies in the fact that Internazionale has chosen as contributors a teamwork made up exclusively of immigrant or second-generation immigrant writers. A daring choice in times like these, in which even leftist newspapers have started to fuel xenophobia.’ Letterranza, website specialising in Immigrant writing.
The project ‘helped create a new community, both between the contributors and between the readers’. Internazionale.
