"Black Hole" and "Data Thieves": the winning surveys of the Morrione 2020 Award

2020-11-01T17:50:50.181Z

The Roberto Morrione Prize for investigative journalism closed its ninth edition by rewarding the winning inquiries during last night's streaming event conducted by the director of Rai Radio 3 Marino Sinibaldi. The evening should have been held at the Circolo dei Lettere in Turin, but in compliance with the emergency measures for the prevention of Covid-19 provided for by the last DPCM, the Amici di Roberto Morrione association has also decided to organize the final ceremony entirely online . For the video category, "Data Thieves" by Federico Marconi and Giorgio Saracino won, an investigation into cyber-attacks on the pharmaceutical and healthcare world by hackers also paid by other states; tutor Giorgio Mottola (trailer here). According to the Jury, "the investigation turns on a powerful spotlight on the world of hackers or even of IT organizations set up specifically for theft or espionage activity. With a relentless journalistic work it goes back to people and companies, finds names and pseudonyms of those who are sneaks into the databases that contain our personal data. A dry, essential montage keeps up the pace of an investigation that opens doors often unknown to the general public. The authors skilfully overcome constructional obstacles and walls of silence to get to pack a product of great narrative effectiveness ". For the experimental category, the final prize was awarded to the investigative podcast "Buco Nero" by Gabriele Cruciata and Arianna Poletti on the digital den of Italian white supremacists with tutor Lorenzo Di Pietro: "for having created, with courage and insight, a experimental investigation on the "deep web". The authors for many months have infiltrated another planet made of racism, anti-Semitism, Nazi-fascism that is expressed with hatred and violence in clandestine chats. The quality of the interviews, the insights make the podcast product absolutely intriguing. A work that takes by surprise, amazes and fascinates at the same time. A test of investigative journalism of the highest level (here the trailer). The two investigations "Ambasciator Porta Pena" by Pietro reached the final for the video category Adami and Cristiana Mastronicola with tutor Luca Rosini and “Another route” by Martina Ferlisi, Sarika Strobbe, Amarilli Varesio with tutor Dina Lauricella. The "Baffo Rosso" award During the evening Andrea Purgatori, journalist and host of Atlantide La7, received the Baffo Rosso 2020 Award with the following motivation: "Andrea Purgatori never stopped in front of the official truth, and he dug in particular on the massacre of Ustica from the first moments after the tragedy. As a young reporter, on that June 27, 1980, he activated his sources, searched for documentation, listened to witnesses, experts, professionals, to trace the causes, identify the material responsible and reveal institutional coverings in one of the great unsolved mysteries of our country's recent history. Finally, he did not get used to the cynicism so widespread in his profession and remained close to the families of the victims, encouraging them in the demand for truth and justice and helping to keep alive the memory and reject the repeated attempts at misdirection that still surface today ". In Nello Scavo the award "Witness of the Award" The special correspondent of the newspaper Avvenire and writer Nello Scavo received the new award "Witness of the Roberto Morrione Award" because he continues to tell with courage and a spirit of truth the terrible adventure of migrants in Mediterranean; because it fearlessly highlights the responsibilities of institutions in every country, despite the threats; because it helped to bring out the contradictions of one of the most dramatic and terrible phenomena of our time. "