A limited number of invitations are available through the 2026 Call for Ideas
From 10 Points to Impact
In 2025, forty journalism professionals from around ten countries gathered in Sicily to ask what local journalism needs to remain relevant to the communities it serves. Together, they produced the 10 Points on Local Journalism.
In 2026, the Unconference moves from principles to practice: how do we put those points into action — and how do we understand whether journalism is actually making a difference?
From 6 to 8 November in Siracusa, around 40 journalists, editors, media leaders, researchers and innovators will work together around one central theme: Impact and How to Measure It.
Founded in the months following the first 10 Points Unconference, Fondazione Giornalismo Mediterraneo was created to give continuity to this work and to develop projects around journalism, innovation, training and international exchange.
The Foundation brings together local experience and international perspectives to explore how journalism can remain relevant, sustainable and useful to the communities it serves.
10 Points on Local Journalism
The first 10 Points Unconference brought together forty journalism professionals from around ten countries to identify what local journalism should protect, rethink and strengthen in order to remain relevant, useful and accountable to the communities it serves.
The resulting 10 Points on Local Journalism are not the conclusion of the project. They are the starting point for the 2026 edition. This year, we want to move from principles to practice: to understand what happens when those ideas are tested in real newsrooms and communities, what changes as a result, for whom, and how journalism can recognise, assess and learn from its impact.
The first edition deliberately brought together different parts of the journalism ecosystem: international media leaders, researchers and innovators alongside independent publishers, local editors, reporters and practitioners. There were no speakers and no audience. Everyone in the room was part of the same working group, contributing experience, questions and perspectives to a shared process.
The people below formed the 2025 working group that helped shape the first 10 Points.
THE FIRST-EDITION WORKING GROUP
IULIIA AKHMEDOVA
Editor
Novaya Gazeta Europe
LAURA SILVIA BATTAGLIA
Freelance journalist; coordinator
Cattolica University J-School
LUDOVIC BLECHER
Partner · Whitebeard; board member L’Orient-Le Jour
LARS BOERING
Former director · European Journalism Centre & World Press Photo Foundation
ROZINA BREEN
Director of Editorial Programs
Pulitzer Center
ALESSIO CASPANELLO
Founder & Editor-in-Chief ·
LetteraEmme
DOMENICO CIANCIO
Co-Editor-in-Chief ·
La Sicilia
RHIANNON DAVIES
Founder ·
Greater Community Media
DERRICK DE KERCKHOVE
Scientific Director
Media Duemila / OTM
GIUSEPPE DI FAZIO
managing editor
Avvenire Catania
ALEXANDRU ENĂȘESCU
Founding Editor
Iașul Nostru
PETER ERDELYI
Director
Center for Sustainable Media
RICHARD GINGRAS
Chair of the Board · Village Media; Board Member · CNTI Former VP at News, Google
SARAH HARTLEY
Founder
The Northern Eco
DANIEL HOWDEN
Founder & Managing Director
Lighthouse Reports
CHRIS KREWSON
Executive Director
LION Publishers
JENNIFER 8. LEE
Board Member
Hacks/Hackers
MEHDI LEBOUACHERA
Global Editor-in-Chief
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
FRANCESCA MARIA LORENZINI
Freelance Journalist · contributor
The Jordan Times
LISA MACLEOD
Director
FT Strategies
DOUGLAS MCCABE
Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer · The Guardian
ANNALISA MONFREDA
Founder
Rame Platform
ALESSIA MELCHIORRE
Co-Founder
Marea Media
AMY MITCHELL
Executive Director · Centre for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI)
CHERYL PHILLIPS
Founder · Big Local News; senior lecturer Stanford University
DEAN RIDINGS
President & CEO
America’s Newspapers
GIORGIO ROMEO
President · Fondazione Giornalismo Mediterraneo; Director · Sicilian Post
MARIA PIA ROSSIGNAUD
Director
Media Duemila / OTM
DIMA SABER
Executive Director
Meedan
ORNELLA SGROI
Freelance Journalist;
contributor Corriere della Sera
CATHERINE SOTIRAKOU
Visiting Professor · National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
GUIDO TIBERGA
Managing Editor ·
L’Unica
GIOVANNI ZAGNI
Director · Pagella Politica & Facta; vp Fondazione Giornalismo Mediterraneo
CALL FOR IDEAS
How are you putting the 10 Points into practice
and what impact is it having?
The 10 Points Unconference is an invite only event, designed for a small working group of around 40 participants. Most participants are invited directly, but a limited number of places are reserved for people selected through this Call for Ideas. If your proposal is selected, you will receive an invitation to join the 2026 working group in Siracusa.
The 2026 Call for Ideas starts from one of the principles developed during the first edition: “Assess your impact: be aware of it and do no harm.” In 2026, we want to explore what this means in practice. We are looking for concrete experiences, projects, editorial choices, new processes, collaborations and experiments that can help us understand how journalism creates impact, how that impact can be recognised, and where measurement falls short.
What changed as a result of your work? For whom? How did you recognise that change? Did the outcome match what you expected? Were there unintended consequences? Were there effects that conventional metrics could not capture? We are interested not only in what you did, but in what happened because you did it, and how you know.
START FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE
Bring us something you have actually tried, tested or changed in your journalism.
THINK
ABOUT IMPACT
What difference were you trying to make, and for whom?
WHAT
HAPPENED?
What changed? What evidence did you find? What surprised you, and what was difficult to understand or measure?
Programme
10:00 - 13.00
Impact Forum
Open to the public
TBD
18.00 - 19.00
Welcome drinks and networking
Invite only
Grand Hotel Villa Politi
19:00 - 20.30
Ignite Talks
Invite Only
Grand Hotel Villa Politi
20:30 - 22.00
Dinner and "post it sessions"
Invite Only
Grand Hotel Villa Politi
09:00 - 13:00
Unconference Sessions
Invite Only
Grand Hotel Villa Politi
13:00 - 14.00
Light Lunch
Invite Only
Grand Hotel Villa Politi
14:00 - 16.00
Working Tables
Invite Only
Grand Hotel Villa Politi
16:00 - 20.00
City Visit
Invite Only
Ortigia & City Center
20.30 - 22.00
Dinner
Invite Only
TBD
09:00 - 11:00
10 Points Document Presentation
Invite Only
TBD
11:00 - 13:00
Greek Teather Visit
Invite Only
Archeological Park
Richard Gingras
Mehdi Lebouachera
Lars Boering
Lisa MacLeod
Laura Silvia Battaglia al-Jalal
Tanit Koch
Amy Mitchell
2025 Event
The first 10 Points Unconference kicked off at the Roman Amphitheatre in Catania with a series of Ignite Talks, fast-paced presentations that offered bold ideas and concrete examples to reimagine the future of local journalism.
Rhiannon Davis
Founder of Greater Community Media
Community journalism is being redefined through active listening, open editorial processes, and journalism as public service. From migrant info pamphlets to collaborative reporting, the focus shifts to impact over clicks. Sustainable models emerge through reader support, philanthropy, and public funding, inspired by groundbreaking initiatives across the U.S. and Greater Community Media’s work in Scotland.
Cheryl Phillips
Founder of Big Local News and Advanced Lecturer in Journalism at the Stanford University.
Data collaboration is transforming local journalism by equipping newsrooms with clean datasets, tools, and training. Through models like the DART matrix and “story recipes,” Big Local News empowers journalists—especially in smaller outlets—to produce impactful, data-driven investigations, such as those on the U.S. overdose crisis that spurred real policy change.
Cheryl Phillips
Founder of Big Local News and Advanced Lecturer in Journalism at the Stanford University.
Data collaboration is transforming local journalism by equipping newsrooms with clean datasets, tools, and training. Through models like the DART matrix and “story recipes,” Big Local News empowers journalists—especially in smaller outlets—to produce impactful, data-driven investigations, such as those on the U.S. overdose crisis that spurred real policy change.
Guido Tiberga
Editorial Coordinator of L’Unica and former Managing Editor at La Stampa
L’Unica revives local journalism by slowing the pace and prioritizing depth over volume. Through weekly newsletters focused on investigative, community-rooted reporting, it offers an alternative to click-driven news. From overlooked elections to local scandals, the project reflects a broader effort to rebuild trust and relevance in local media with rigor and care.
Dean Ridings
CEO of America’s Newspapers
Trust in U.S. media has sharply declined, but local newspapers remain a trusted source—especially in rural areas. Drawing on national survey data, the talk identifies key trust drivers like transparency, ethical standards, and community presence. It also highlights generational trends, skepticism toward social media, and strategies for rebuilding trust through accessibility, solutions journalism, and consistent local coverage.
Dean Ridings
CEO of America’s Newspapers
Trust in U.S. media has sharply declined, but local newspapers remain a trusted source—especially in rural areas. Drawing on national survey data, the talk identifies key trust drivers like transparency, ethical standards, and community presence. It also highlights generational trends, skepticism toward social media, and strategies for rebuilding trust through accessibility, solutions journalism, and consistent local coverage.
Rozina Breen
Editor-in-Chief and CEO of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Community engagement and bold collaboration are reshaping investigative journalism—through public-led inquiries with real impact, shared power, and local insight. Examples include heatwave housing investigations and partnerships with local media to build trust and representation.
Yulia Akhmedova
Lead European Politics Reporter at Novaja Gazeta Europe
In response to war and censorship, Novaja Gazeta Europe continues independent reporting for Russian audiences from exile. Covering European politics, diaspora challenges, and propaganda, it sheds light on how disinformation spreads and how sanctions are evaded. Journalism in exile becomes a lifeline—offering truth, connection, and resistance amid repression.
Yulia Akhmedova
Lead European Politics Reporter at Novaja Gazeta Europe
In response to war and censorship, Novaja Gazeta Europe continues independent reporting for Russian audiences from exile. Covering European politics, diaspora challenges, and propaganda, it sheds light on how disinformation spreads and how sanctions are evaded. Journalism in exile becomes a lifeline—offering truth, connection, and resistance amid repression.
Chris Krewson
Executive Director of LION Publishers
LION Publishers is helping independent newsrooms scale sustainability through its evolving audit program, now a self-guided tool with coaching and wide reach. Backed by major funders, the initiative empowers small outlets with diagnostics, support, and infrastructure, aiming for over 400 audits in 2025. A vision of resilient, financially viable local journalism is taking shape.
Alessio Caspanello
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of LetteraEmme
Through long-form storytelling and deep local reporting, LetteraEmme fosters connection and trust within its community. Rejecting fast-news cycles, it focuses on quality journalism with bold coverage—from infrastructure debates to historical crime stories. Born during the pandemic, the magazine is carving a sustainable path with strong editorial vision and local impact.
Alessio Caspanello
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of LetteraEmme
Through long-form storytelling and deep local reporting, LetteraEmme fosters connection and trust within its community. Rejecting fast-news cycles, it focuses on quality journalism with bold coverage—from infrastructure debates to historical crime stories. Born during the pandemic, the magazine is carving a sustainable path with strong editorial vision and local impact.