Paolo Borommeti
Paolo Borrometi

Italian journalist Paolo Borrometi, known for his reporting on the Sicilian mafia, received the 2019 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism at a ceremony at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism on Sept. 25.

The award, established in 2008, honors reporters and editors who have demonstrated a commitment to fairness, accuracy and speaking truth to power, and a matching commitment to asserting the right to publish or air that story in countries where independent media is under threat.

Borrometi has won numerous prizes in Italy, including the “Cavaliere dell’Ordine al merito della Repubblica italiana,” presented to him in 2015 by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Following the award ceremony, a panel was held that addressed “The Danger of Reporting Hidden Truths.”

Moderated by Bloomberg editor Ian Fisher, the panel also included Marshall Project editor Susan Chira, Committee to Protect Journalists advocacy director Courtney C. Radsch and current Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University Andrew Rosati, who has reported for Bloomberg from Venezuela.

Their conversation covered such topics as the proliferation of “fake news,” as well as the increasing threats to the safety of journalists.

“Journalism reveals the thing someone else doesn’t want you to know,” Rosati said during the discussion. “The rest is propaganda.”

The Newmark J-School is part of the City University of New York. Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, endowed the CUNY Graduate School of Journalist with a $20M gift.