Report from Rome: In Health Crisis, Italians Rediscover the Value of Quality Journalism

Alessio Balbi heads the digital newsroom of La Repubblica, the flagship of Rome-based GEDI Editorial Group, a conglomerate of national and local newspapers, magazines, digital sites, and radio stations. During a recent online hangout with INMA, he told the story of his country’s tragedy and his newspaper’s revival.

COVID-19 was first confirmed to spread into Italy in the last days of January when two Chinese tourists tested positive in Rome. The shock came a month later, on the night of February 20, when a young man with no contact with China tested positive in the northern region of Lombardy. Within days, a cluster of dozens of cases was detected.

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