Section: "Journalism - Civil engagement in the media"

Winner: Gigi Ghirotti Foundation

The Gigi Ghirotti Foundation is indeed appreciated for "the admirable ability to consider the citizen bearer of rights, as well as duties, always and in any case, in all conditions, in particular in the condition of sick, fragile, suffering, at the end of life, at the risk of abandonment and loneliness. An idea around which the Foundation stands in defense as a bulwark in an era in which indifference, selfishness and partisan interests predominate, and the consequent stigma associated with the sick and suffering, especially if chronic or in the terminal phase, of a burden , weight and waste for society”. For these reasons, the Ghirotti Foundation concretely realizes the mission of the Res Publica Award.

Gigi Ghirotti, with the 'Long journey into the tunnel of illness', a memorable investigation published by La Stampa, and with the television broadcasts in which he was the protagonist, is an emblem of extraordinary civil commitment. Chronicler of suffering in suffering, he chose to live the disease until the end alongside the patients he met in public hospitals and called for treatments with a human face, ”says Maurizio Molinari, director of La Stampa. “Psychological support for the sick, for which the Foundation that bears his name has been operating throughout the country for many years, can be summarized in a few words: 'No one is left alone in the face of pain'. An exhortation that we all admire, always topical".