An accolade for our growing community

(and a little plea from me...)

Dear readers,

A short update, as I have just returned to London’s arctic attempt at spring from a wonderful week in the Italian city of Perugia, for the annual International Journalism Festival. It’s always one of the highlights of my year.

It’s an eclectic mix of journalists from all over the world, talking about the main stories of our time as well as how the industry is changing the way those stories are told.

From high-profile TikTok journalists/creators who bring the news to a younger audience, to the video journalist/director who filmed the aftermath of a maternity hospital in Mariupol bombed by the Russians. Scenes of pregnant women being stretchered out of the ruins became one of the defining images of the war in Ukraine. I interviewed Mstyslav Chernov and the team’s field producer, Vasilisa Stepanenko about the film ‘20 days in Mariupol’ which will be out soon. I highly recommend you watch the documentary when you get the chance. We’ve all seen a lot of footage out of Ukraine in the past year, but the 4 minute sequence of the hospital bombing in the film is a searing insight into the realities of war. A must-watch.

And now, on a much, much lighter note,

I’m also delighted to say that my talk on the “Privilege of Speaking English” was selected as one of the Festival’s highlights by the Reuters Institute for the study of Journalism.

Here’s what they had to say about it:

As supporters of this newsletter, you’ll know that I do a lot of research and writing on the issue of language (especially native-level English) as privilege and its impact on the journalistic narrative. The post about ‘The barriers faced by second-language English journalists’ went viral and was my most popular newsletter of the past year.

But this was the first time that I spoke about the issue of language as privilege to a live audience, and it was amazing to see it resonate with the 200-or-so people who were there. You can watch the talk here.

Me presenting the ‘Privilege of Speaking English’ lecture at the Perugia International Journalism Festival, 22 April 2023.

Being picked as a highlight by the Reuters Institute is a reflection that the work we’re doing on this newsletter is valuable. As you know it’s not just about language. It’s about how language affects the dominant journalistic narrative around topics like the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and the rise of the Far Right.

But it really all starts with this newsletter, and your support in building this community.

Which leads me to my small plea: that if you have found my writing valuable you please consider signing up as a paid subscriber. I know that many of you, especially younger readers, will be feeling the pinch right now. These are not easy times and I will ALWAYS keep some of the content here free for all subscribers. But a year into the newsletter I’m going to have to put certain content behind a paywall.

By becoming a paid subscriber you will have access to all my writing, my archive (which you can find here), my upcoming podcast (yes! It’s coming!) and you’ll have a direct line to me by emailing barbaraserra@substack.com from the email address you used to subscribe. And of course you will be supporting me and my independent journalism.

Regardless of what you decide, I want to thank you for letting me into your inbox and being part of our community, which is going from strength to strength due to your support.

Barbara