The International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) and the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII (FSCIRE) announced the winners of first edition of the Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award. The international jury also awarded one special mention.

ALERT for journalists across Europe and around the Mediterranean basin that the deadline for the second Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award is now extended to May 15, 2023. This column also has links to the entry page, contest details and answers to frequently asked questions.

Applications are open for the second edition of the Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award. Journalists covering religion, faith and spirituality in both mainstream and confessional media – newspapers, magazines or news websites – that publish regularly in Europe, including Iceland and Russia, and the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin are invited to submit their works by April 15, 2023.

The International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) is launching its third series of online global dialogues, bringing together reporters from different regions of the world. The 2023 theme will be religious extremism in their countries.

Canadian IARJ member John Longhurst writes about the importance of including religious leaders in global gatherings to discuss our collective future.

Our IARJ colleagues are active in many media networks around the world, including the Religion & Media Interest Group of the Association of Educators of Journalism and Mass Communication. The Winter 2022-23 issue of that group’s Religion & Media UPDATE includes stories about two of our colleagues.

The IARJ’s Douglas Todd reports on discussions at the latest International Center for Law and Religion Studies conference, held in Cordoba, Spain, at which representatives of the IARJ also participated.

IARJ board member Pedro Brieger writes about the evolving relationship between the papacy and Latin America. His column—posted in Spanish and English—begins: “La historia latinoamericana y caribeña desde la conquista española estuvo atravesada por la influencia de la espada y la cruz.”

In this column in our “News and Views” series, IARJ board member Prince Charles Dickson describes the complex structure of religion and politics in Nigeria.

In our fifth global discussion about religion and politics, IARJ members from North America discuss common misconceptions about the complex influence of religion in shaping community life and national policies.