Amerigo Award– On December 10, the Consulate General of the United States in Florence hosted the 17th edition of the Amerigo Journalism Award, a unique award established in 2009 that recognizes journalists who have contributed to raising awareness of America among Italians and Italy among Americans.
The ceremony was attended by Consul General Daniela Ballard, Amerigo National President Edoardo Imperiale, and numerous institutional and diplomatic representatives.
The journalists awarded for this edition were: Anna Lombardi of La Repubblica for Newspapers, Paolo Cappelli of Rai News 24 for Audiovisual Media, Elena Tempestini of the Prospettive blog for Online Journalism, Alessandro Marenzi of Sky News 24 was awarded the No Fake News Award, while Maurizio Caprara, international politics columnist for Corriere della Sera, was awarded the 2025 Special Award.
In addition, the Photography Award went to American photographer David Wiener, the America Award, dedicated to a journalist who tells Americans about Italy, went to Chiara Albanese of Bloomberg News, and the Europe Award, dedicated to a journalist from a European Union country, went to journalist Sarah Wheatón of Politico Europe.
The award ceremony was attended by several prominent figures from the worlds of journalism and diplomacy, including Giampaolo Marchini (Order of Journalists of Tuscany), Michele Ricceri (National Coordinator of the Award), Piero Meucci of the Technical Commission, Massimo Cugusi (ENAM), and several representatives of the American Diplomatic Mission in Rome.
Established in 2009 on the initiative of the Association’s Florence Chapter, the Amerigo Journalism Award is a unique recognition of the contribution made by media professionals to improving knowledge of the United States of America in Italy.
The Award is divided into several sections, namely News Agencies, Newspapers, Magazines, Radio, Television, Photography, Web, Social Networks, and Under 35, as well as a Special Award.
The Amerigo Association brings together Italian alumni of international cultural exchange programs promoted, in their various forms, by the US Department of State (Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs). Founded in May 2007 on the initiative of eight founding members from the Italian academic, business, journalistic, and political-institutional worlds, it aims to encourage the exchange of knowledge and personal and professional experiences, and to promote the implementation of joint projects:
The Association is inspired by the illustrious Italian navigator and explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who, upon landing on the Guayira Peninsula (Colombia) in 1497, was the first to realize that he had discovered “the fourth part of the earth,” in short, a new continent and not an eastern route to reach the Far East by sea.
This is evident in the letters sent to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de’ Medici, and in particular in the one entitled “Mundus Novus,” in which he wrote:
“I arrived at the land of the Antipodes, and I recognized that I was in the presence of the fourth part of the Earth. I discovered a continent inhabited by a multitude of peoples and animals, more than our Europe, Asia, or Africa itself.”
With the same spirit, free from prejudice and rich in experience, the Amerigo Association, in close collaboration with the American Diplomatic Mission in Italy, promotes meetings, seminars, and conferences, and produces and disseminates studies, documentation, research, and educational and training materials related to its purposes and activities, in order to help promote the U.S. government’s cultural exchange programs, improve knowledge of U.S. society and institutions in Italy, and connect Italian and American citizens and institutions.
Finally, the Amerigo Association is a committed participant in the activities of the State Alumni Community, the large network that brings together participants in cultural exchange programs promoted by the US Government from all over the world. In this spirit, Amerigo is a founding member of the European Network of American Alumni Associations, established in Rome in 2011.
