Italy’s Paolo Borrometi is the 2019 Peter Mackler Award recipient.
Investigative journalist Paolo Borrometi, an expert on the Sicilian mafia, is the winner of the 2019 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. He was honored at a ceremony at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism on Wednesday September 25, 2019.
Borrometi’s coverage of the Sicilian mafia has made him the target of death threats and personal attacks, including assault. Nonetheless, he has continued to report on organized crime for the Italian broadcasting network TV2000; La Spia, the news website he created in 2013; and Articolo 21, an association he heads that supports freedom of expression.
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.