War reporter Barbara Schiavulli awarded Buk 2017 Prize

Italian war reporter Barbara Schiavulli is being honored with the Special Prize at the 2017 Modena 'Buk' Book Festival, which will be held February 18 and 19 at the city's Foro Boario conference center.

She told ANSA that despite the fact that nowadays telling the difference between real news and fake news is increasingly more difficult, it's also more necessary.

The 'Premio Speciale Buk 2017' prize is being given to Schiavulli in recognition of "the effort that for many years has brought together the qualities of war reporting with the ability to tell stories from the front lines through the pages of a book".

Schiavulli, who has reported from the frontlines of many of the most significant war zones over the past 20 years, is the author of the Italian graphic novel 'Bulletproof Diaries - Stories from a war reporter' published by Round Robin with illustrations by Emilio Lecce. She is also the co-founder of the web radio station 'Radio Bullets'.

"This prize is important because it's a recognition of our web radio station, which was founded two years ago," she said.

"The skill of those who do this work and the pride of those who want to do it well is that you must take a bit more time to dive deeper into the news. You have to decide what you prefer: whether you want to be an assurance for the reader, or instead give information quickly but risk it being wrong. As a reader as well, I prefer to be sure of what I'm reading".

Schiavulli said that nowadays there's a marked difference between journalism and information. "Anyone can produce information, while a journalist is a professional who evaluates, investigates, researches and gives you something that's verified and correct," she said.

She said journalism is currently in a transition phase in which it's hitting rock bottom. "It all has to be renewed, starting with people's minds.

Journalism needs to rethink itself and go back to the role that's expected of it in society, that of a watchdog over power". She said young people must be educated about how they consume the news.

"We have to educate young people to know that they can find everything and the opposite of everything and that they can be manipulated," she said. "We have to teach young people to think critically and that one needs to see and hear in order to tell".

ANSA