Amazon Returns as Main Sponsor of International Journalism Festival,
The Largest Media Event in Europe
Amazon to award five university students with trip to Perugia to participate in the festival
as part of the first-ever Amazon/DWDL.de/El Pais/La Stampa International Journalism Festival Scholarship
Perugia, 2 February 2015 – The International Journalism Festival (IJF) today announced that Amazon is returning as the festival’s main sponsor. The ninth annual festival – the largest media event in Europe with tens sessions a day and hundreds speakers – is April 15-19 in Perugia, Italy. Amazon and IJF share a vision for putting the reader first and helping content creators, including journalists and authors, connect with more readers and in new and different ways.
Also today, Amazon is introducing the International Journalism Festival Scholarship. Students from across Europe ages 19-25 are encouraged to offer their answer to the question “What is the future of journalism?” via an essay 2,000 words or less. The five winning students will have their essays published at La Stampa, El Pais and DWDL.de during the week of the festival, and receive full airfare and lodging accommodations from Amazon to attend the festival in Perugia.
In addition, the best essays will become a book published on Kindle Store with Kindle Direct Publishing and all the royalties will be earned by IFJ.
The contest starts today and the deadline for submissions is February 28, 2015.
“The future of journalism is everyone’s business, because valid information is essential for democracy and everyday personal choices” – said Mario Calabresi La Stampa Editor in Chief. “La Stampa has always taken quality journalism and innovation to heart, so we are happy to promote with Amazon and with other European newspapers a writing contest that will lead us to discovering new and creative ideas for the future of journalism. And there is no better opportunity than the International Journalism Festival to present the works of the winners o the world .”
“Amazon is back once again as the main sponsor of the International Journalism Festival. Amazon exemplifies what it means to put the reader first and to invent on their behalf, which is precisely what we try to inspire and facilitate over five days of thought-provoking discussion at the festival,” said Arianna Ciccone, who co-founded the IJF with Christopher Potter in 2006. “We are excited too that Amazon is introducing a new twist this year – the opportunity for five university students to win scholarships to join us for the whole festival.”
“The International Journalism Festival is an important forum for inventing the new ways that we as readers will consume news, insights, and opinions in the future – from individual content creators to the largest news organizations in the world,” said Diego Piacentini, Senior Vice President, Amazon. “We are excited to help support and be part of this exciting discussion once again, and for the first time, to bring students to the festival and to hear their ideas on the future of journalism.”
Thanks to the support of Amazon, the festival will reinforce its role as a 5-day full-immersion thought laboratory where journalists can exchange opinions with readers and/or other journalists on the implications of the profound changes in news and knowledge (newspapers, books), transformed almost overnight from the static to the free-flowing, a new world that opens up seemingly unlimited possibilities.
Students can submit their entry for the International Journalism Festival Scholarship at www.amazon.it/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.co.uk/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.fr/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.es/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.de/ijf-scholarship. Deadline for submission is February 28, 2015. Winners will be announced in March.
For more information and a complete set of rules, visit the same pages. http://www.amazon.it/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.co.uk/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.fr/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.es/ijf-scholarship, www.amazon.de/ijf-scholarship.
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About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon
For further information:
Festival Internazionale del Giornalismo: www.journalismfestival.com – @journalismfest
Amazon Press Office: press@amazon.it – +39 02 36792144
Mirandola Comunicazione:
Marco Ferrario – marco.ferrario@mirandola.net – +39 320 791 0162
Simona Miele – simona.miele@mirandola.net – +39 348 250 9895