At a glittering ceremony set against the backdrop of the beautiful seaside town of Sorrento, Milan-based Italian street paper Scarp de’ tenis was honoured at the Biagio Agnes awards for its monthly commitment to social justice through journalism.
The team at Scarp de’ tenis were the proud recipients of the special award for social information at the awards bash, named after the former director of Italian television station RAI.
The ceremony, which was attended by some of the most important figures in Italian journalism, took place on June 24 and was broadcast live on national television.
Stefano Lampertico, the publication’s editor, was there to receive the award on behalf of the INSP member.
He said: “Such recognition rewards and vindicates our long time work and engagement. Scarp de’ tenis has become a guiding light of social communication in Italy.”
The win, for which both editorial staff and vendors alike were responsible for, was described as being for “dedication to the homeless and those suffering from forms of social exclusion, to restore their dignity by bureaucratic and economic assistance through the paper’s monthly sales” by the Biagio Agnes Foundation judges.
The awards, which were established to “build a bridge towards new frontiers of information”, according to its president Simona Agnes, take place annually, celebrating the best in the Italian journalism industry, and are now in their ninth year.
Mr Lampertico continued: “We are proud of this award – it drives us to constantly improve our work and to continue looking for stories that tell of hope and arouse interest and curiosity.”
It is not the first time in recent years that Scarp de’ tenis has been rewarded for its services to journalism and social welfare. In 2015, the street paper was the recipient of Il Premiolino, one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious journalism awards. It is presented annually to six journalists or journalism organisations to mark their career achievements and their contributions to press freedom.
2017 has been a year of many achievements for Scarp de’ tenis. In March, their extraordinary and exclusive interview with Pope Francis proved extremely popular with readers, as well as fellow INSP members, who benefitted from the feature through the network’s News Service.