Jeena Cucciniello, 23 years of age, Italian-Indian born in Darjeeling and Graduated in Public Relations at the University of Udine, was the winner of the Papa Journalism Award – 2017 Edition, overcoming Claudia Palazzino from Caserta and Elena Furlano from Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Her news item about the G7 Environment held in Bologna in 2017 won over the other finalists. «I’m really happy not only because I won – she commented – but also because I won thanks to my passion».

«Taking part in this competition – Jeena Cucciniello added – gave me the chance to learn about Hemingway, worldwide considered as one of the fathers of the American literature revolution that I did not know well until now».

Maila Marangone, student of Public Relations at the University of Udine, was the winner of the 2nd edition of the Papa Journalism Award – Ernest Hemingway. A special mention was accorded to Maria Chiara Billi, student of Communication Sciences at the University of Trieste.

The prize-giving ceremony, hosted by Luisa Venturin, saw the participation of Andrea Iacomini, spokesman of UNICEF Italia, who was awarded the City of Caorle Prize, which is combined with the Papa Award.

But the event held in Caorle had more emotions in store: a transcontinental phone call made by Ernest Hemingway and Fernanda Pivano in 1957 was broadcast thanks to the collaboration of the Benetton Studies and Research Foundation, the Corriere della Sera Foundation and Michele Concina, heir of Fernanda Pivano.

Federica Procentese, 22 years of age, from Trieste, was the winner of the 1st edition of the Papa Journalism Award – Ernest Hemingway. Student of Communication Sciences at the University of Trieste, with the passion of photography, she aspires to become a journalist and travel the world to talk about wars.

She was given the prize from John Hemingway, grandson of the American journalist and writer Ernest Hemingway, who came to Caorle to recall his grandfather’s deep bond with the lagoon.

«I think that the Papa Award for writing and journalism is a wonderful way to help young Italian talents to stand out and to honour my grandfather, who visited the lagoon of Caorle, as I know for sure, with his good friend Baron Franchetti, going hunting. He deeply loved Veneto and especially the area of Caorle».

Sergio Canciani | Journalist and writer

Long-time correspondent from Moscow for RAI, he reported about the Russia of Putin for 13 years, with approximately seven thousand services, in addition to many other commentaries and interviews. Born in the frontier city of Trieste, he studied the Slavic languages which “predestined” him to witness the crisis of the Soviet Union and its client provinces, as special correspondent from central Europe and the Balkans. When he was head of the RAI representation and correspondence unit in Moscow he tried to follow the example of his eminent predecessors.

Tiziana Ferrario | Journalist

Since January 2014, she is RAI correspondent in New York. After collaborating with Italia Sera she was included in the editorial staff of Uno Mattina and was one of the main TG1 news anchors from 1993 to 2010. After working as political correspondent, she reported about international political and social crises and wars from Afghanistan, Iraq, Southeast Asia, as well as Africa, between northern Uganda and Drafur and then she arrived in the US, a country which still keeps a vivid memory of one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Papa Ernest Hemingway.

Roberto Papetti | Journalist

Director of the daily newspaper Il Gazzettino. Deputy Director of the weekly publication Il Mondo, editor-in-chief for economics of Corriere della Sera and Deputy Director of Il Giornale, he has been trying, since 2006, to draw the national and international attention to Veneto, one of the main tourist destinations in Italy. With his vast culture and his considerable economic and financial skills, after becoming Director of Il Gazzettino and developing a deep knowledge of Veneto, he was able to give voice to the heart of people, to those who created the so-called “North-East”.

Floriana Bulfon | Journalist

The video reportage she made with Cristina Mastrandrea about foreign minors who are abandoned and exploited all around the station of Roma Termini – released by Espresso.it, La7 and RaiNews24 – was awarded the Lucchetta Prize 2016 for the Reportage section. She writes for Espresso, Panorama and Linkiesta, carrying out inquiries on crime, racket, armament, smuggling of migrants and healthcare. With the service “Regeni, i misteri del Cairo” (“Regeni, the mysteries of Cairo”), broadcasted on Rai 1 by the program “Petrolio”, she won the seventh edition of the Simona Cigana Prize for Investigative Journalism.

Toni Capuozzo | Journalist and writer

Host of the TV show Terra, he started his professional activity in 1979 at Lotta Continua, reporting from Latin America. Subsequently, he wrote for Reporter, Panorama Mese and Epoca. During the Falklands War in 1982 he was given an exclusive interview by the writer Jorge Luis Borges. He investigated about Mafia for Giovanni Minoli’s program “Mixer” and was correspondent for the program “L’Istruttoria”. Then he collaborated with Mediaset news broadcasts such as TG4, TG5 and Studio Aperto, following in particular former-Yugoslavia wars and the conflicts in Somalia, Middle East and Afghanistan.

Paolo Brinis | Journalist and writer

He has been journalist for News Mediaset for the past 20 years, talking about the North-East of Italy for the news programs of the Milanese TV group (TG4, TG5, Studio Aperto and TGCom24), one of the biggest groups of private TV. As a journalist, he also lived important experiences in Israel, Iraq and Japan. He is interested in modern art, architecture and wine culture. He smokes Cuban cigars, though rarely, but he is generally fascinated by everything that has to do with them and he even wrote a book called Il giro del Mondo in 80 sigari (“around the world in 80 cigars”), a literary effort with a chapter dedicated to Ernest Hemingway.

Andrea Iacomini | Journalist and writer

Spokesman for Unicef Italia, blogger and writer. Author of the book Il Giorno Dopo (“the next day”), he is editor of a supplementary section of Huffington Post Italia and wrote editorials and articles on current events and foreign policy for several magazines and for the main Italian daily newspapers. He recently carried out an intense information campaign against the children massacre in the Mediterranean Sea, Syria, Iraq and the Gaza Strip, themes for which he is still on the frontline with initiatives and field missions. He is Managing Director of the supporters magazine of UNICEF Italia “Dalla parte dei bambini” (“on the side of the children”).

Stefano Polli | Journalist and writer

He is deputy director of the ANSA agency, the first Italian agency and among the first in the world with correspondent offices in all the major world capitals, he followed the major international events as special envoy: the first Gulf War, the Balkans war, the Albanian civil war, the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict, as well as the major international summits such as the EU, G7, G8, G20, UN and NATO. ANSA analyst for politics and international diplomacy, he is professor of European journalism at the Lumsa University and author of books on Europe and on agency journalism. In 2012 he published the novel “Oltre il mare”.

Maarten van Aalderen | Journalist and writer

He is correspondent for Italy and Turkey of De Telegraaf, the major Dutch newspaper, he was president of the Italian Associazione della Stampa Estera. Director and coordinator of the Global Journalism course at the UniNettuno University of Rome, he cooperates on the television program “Italiani di carta” by Paolo Mieli and broadcast on the state television of San Marino, as well as on the Sky network. He won the Sicily Madre Mediterranea 2008 award, the international prize for Culture Santa Margherita Ligure 2009, the Nestore Cup prize in September 2015 and the Pablo Neruda prize at Crispiano in 2017.

Giuseppe Gioia | Journalist

Professional journalist, born in Messina on 13th of may in the 1952. He attended political sciences at University of Padova and was editor for Il Mattino di Padova from 1978 to 1980, year in which he became a professional. Afterwards he worked for Tribuna di Treviso from 1981 to 1985 and then he passed to Nuova Venezia from 1985 to 1988. Hired form Rai in 1988, he was editor in chief in the TGR RAI office in Venice. He also cooperated with L’Espresso weekly magazine from 1990 to 1995. From 2000 he’s member of the Council of the Ordine regionale of Veneto.

Fausto Biloslavo | Journalist

His baptism of fire it’s a reportage on the invasion of Israeli army in Lebanon in the 1982 during which he was the only one able to take a picture of Yasser Arafat fleeing from Beirut. In the ‘80s he “told” the forgotten wars from Afghanistan to Africa up to the far East. In 1987 he was taken prisoner in Kabul for seven months. He followed the worst conflicts like the Ruanda and Balcan genocides and told all the Croatian and Bosnian wars until Nato intervention in Kosovo. In 1997 the Chechnya, then Kabul until 2003 in Iraq. In almost 30 years long work he wrote more than 4000 articles.

Collen Barry | Journalist

The American Collen Barry is the Italian correspondent of the Associated Press. In love with Veneto, she lives in Italy with her husband and their two children. She is an admirer of the works of the journalist and writer Ernest Hemingway. Founded in 1846 in New York, the Associated Press is now one of the largest agencies in the world and, together with Reuters, the principal in English. The Associated Press is a cooperative of media outlets, with 242 offices covering more than 120 countries worldwide. On 26 August 2014 a five-year paternariat agreement was signed (2015-2020) between AP and ANSA for photos, texts and videos.

The non-profit cultural association Cinzia Vitale was founded in 2012 in memory of prematurely-departed Cinzia Vitale. The President Roberto Vitale wanted to commemorate his sister giving “life” to some dreams… to be the voice for those who have none. Vitale Onlus intends to pursue only non-profit social solidarity purposes and help people with physical, psychological, economic and domestic disadvantage, through events connected with the promotion of culture and art, as well as a more complete human and social development for the enhancement of the linguistic heritage.

The honorary and the scientific committees of Vitale Onlus include, among others, the journalists Tiziana Ferrario, Toni Capuozzo and Sergio Canciani, the UN spokesman for critical areas Andrea Angeli, Maria Giovanna Elmi, as well as academic and diplomatic figures. Other meritorious members include the journalist Paolo Rumiz, the writer Claudio Magris, the Noble Peace Prize winner Filippo Giorgi, the ambassador Staffan de Mistura, the scientist Mauro Giacca, Monsignor Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the late lamented astrophysicist Margherita Hack, the archbishop Guido Pozzo, almoner of His Holiness Benedict XVI, the actress Ariella Reggio, the dramatist Giorgio Pressburger and Andrea Margelletti, president of the Centre for International Studies.

The winners of the annual “Cinzia Vitale Prize” are Mohamed H. A. Hassan (2016), executive director of the World Academy of Science, the writer Boris Pahor (2015), the princess Elettra Marconi (2014) and David B. Sutcliffe (2013), headmaster of UWC Adriatic.

Aurora Zulian Carolina Fabroni Federico Rossi Francesca Tregnaghi Federico Sartorello Helena Baafi Mensah Livia Santarossa Chiara De Giorgi Anna Finotto Mattia Anfosso Maria Chiara Billi Martina Siderini Margherita Falcomer Maria Giuditta Natalini Sergio Zappa Federico Colautti Martina Pessa Sergio Corbetta Alessandro Paparella Luisa Venturin Sofia Vitale Benedetta Pulella Simone Braca Francesco Fantuzzo Silvia Villanova Alessia Fiorindo Leonardo Boatto Teodora Buccilli