TRIESTE - Once again this year, Maria Concetta Mattei, director of the Perugia School of Journalism and famous anchorwoman for TG2 and Italian news TV, will chair the Marco Luchetta 2023 International Press Award Jury and select the winners of the 20th edition of the contest, created in memory of journalists Marco Luchetta, Alessandro Saša Ota, Dario D'Angelo and Miran Hrovatin, the latter murdered in Mogadishu with Ilaria Alpi on 20 March twenty-nine years ago.
Promoted annually to support awareness-raising on violated and threatened childhood in the world, in recent years it has highlighted investigations and reportages from the remotest corners of the world, bearing witness to suffering and humiliation of all kinds inflicted on minors, not least during the war in Ukraine, which broke out a few days after the 2022 Award deadline and is still ongoing. And given the time span that will be examined, it is likely that the conflict in Ukraine will be the most prominent among the works nominated, as President Mattei emphasises: "By choosing reportages, news reports and articles on the conflict in Ukraine - ever since the tragic invasion by Russia on 24 February 2022 - the prize aims to draw attention to the suffering caused not only by the war closest to us, and the most recent, but to make us reflect on all the forgotten conflicts in the world that inflict irreparable wounds on disputed territories and the populations that live there. Our mission is to bear specific witness to the pain inflicted on the most fragile, the minors. Children and young people are the innocent victims of the choices made by those who should safeguard them, protect them ... and instead kill, kidnap, sow the seeds of hatred. We must bear witness to the atrocities of war in order to build a world of peace”.
There is time until 20 May to submit entries for this competition, which the Luchetta Ota D'Angelo Hrovatin Foundation has always organised in collaboration with RAI. It is an award that stems from the desire to protect the most fragile children, just as the RAI film crew to whom the prize is dedicated did, killed by a grenade in Mostar while protecting little Zlatko on 28 January 1994. Organised by Prandicom, the Luchetta Award is curated by Fabiana Martini, who as Jury Secretary will also coordinate the work of selecting the candidate works. From this year on, a new section dedicated to the Balkan Route will be launched in June with a separate call for entries and will be awarded on 28 January 2024 on the XXX anniversary of the Mostar massacre; the 2023 Luchetta Award Days will instead be held from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 November, the eve of World Children's Rights Day.
The 20th Marco Luchetta International Press Award.
The 20th edition of the Luchetta Award will once again be dedicated to journalists and photojournalists who, from any latitude of the planet, bear witness to and sensitively recount injustice and violence against the youngest: a humanitarian spirit made its own by the Luchetta Foundation, set up precisely to guarantee hospitality and medical assistance to children from all over the world, suffering from illnesses that cannot be cured in their country of origin. Works published or broadcast between 16 February 2022 and 20 May 2023 will be competing for this year's Luchetta Award: works must have been published in a registered newspaper, whether print, television or online. Each competing work, no more than three for each candidate, must be submitted online and accompanied by a descriptive summary, a brief professional profile and entry form. The contests consists of five sections: TV NEWS, reserved for the journalist who has produced the best news report (max 8 minutes long); ITALIAN articles, reserved for the author of the best article published in national newspapers or periodicals, including online; REPORTAGE, reserved for the journalist who has produced the best reportage (maximum of 80 minutes long); INTERNATIONAL articles, reserved for the journalist, author of the best non-Italian article, including online articles; PHOTOGRAPHY, reserved for the photographer for the best shot published in a periodical or daily newspaper, including online, accompanying an article or commentary. Notice of competition and entry form can be found at www.premioluchetta.com