A Conversation with Federica Tourn

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Journalist Federica Tourn was the first winner of the Piazza Grande Award, which was
launched in 2019 by the International association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) and the
Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII (FSCIRE) to encourage best practices in
journalism and honor the work of journalists covering religion and spirituality.
In this interview by Jelena Jorgačević she tell us how she started reporting on religion and what it means to be a female journalist covering religion.

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IARJ announces second edition of the Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award

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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.

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Through the Coronaspection media project, global religious leaders put the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective

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Journalists who cover religion will find a wealth of story ideas and powerful quotes in a new project launched by the Elijah Interfaith Institute in Jerusalem called Coronaspection. Some 40 religious leaders—including Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, leading imams, chief rabbis, swamis, cardinals and teachers—offer their perspectives on the pandemic.

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Faith in a Time of Coronavirus

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Journalists around the world are scrambling to follow the spread of COVID 19, also known as Coronavirus. To encourage other religion journalists to report on the impact, Elisa Di Bendetto writes: “I live in the Veneto region of Italy, about 120 km from the locked down town of Vo’ Euganeo and 60 km from the nearest cases, and I can report first-hand that confirmed cases of the virus dramatically change life for people of faith.”

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IARJ global conference in the U.S.—Cultivating Understanding, Accuracy and Empathy in a Polarized World

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The first North American meeting of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) drew more than two dozen religion writers from the United States and around the world—including Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Serbia, Spain and Sri Lanka. They gathered in Salt Lake City (Utah, United States) for a two-day conference on “Cultivating Understanding, Accuracy, and Empathy in a Polarized World.” In this column, two veteran IARJ members—Peggy Fletcher Stack and Elisa Di Benedetto—report on highlights of the conference.

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Journalists from Central and Eastern Europe discuss critical issues of religion in the news

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This summer, journalists from Central and Eastern Europe gathered in Warsaw, Poland, for a conference exploring coverage of faith issues in public life, politics and history in the region, organized by the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) along with a number of sponsors. This column shares comments on these issues from many of the participants.

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