Tired of dealing with a closed and self-referential information system, 22 “information volunteers” (none of whom are journalists) have developed the LiberaReggio Project, an on-line magazine that allows young people, who live and want to continue living in Reggio Calabria, to voice their opinions.

The 22 volunteers are editors, graphic designers and webmasters who attract an average 170-200 unique hits a day and over 9000 monthly visitors to their site. However, LiberaReggio is not just DIY information.

 

"Young people in Reggio are not always able to voice their opinion", explains Alessio Neri, the project coordinator. “LiberaReggio wants to provide a space for all their interests to all the young people. We have never written on a newspaper or worked at a news desk, but thanks to our site we are learning about his job: a job characterized by collaboration, immediacy and freedom of expression."

 

 

The project is the result of the social unease experienced by young people in Reggio Calabria who are often forced to emigrate to study and work, and those who don’t often live in extremely difficult working and cultural conditions. (The pro capita GDP in Southern Italy is €17,971 as opposed to €30,681 in Central and Northern Italy.)

 

According to the Rapporto sull’economia del Mezzogiorno 2009 (a report on the economy of Southern Italy) compiled by Svimez, 700,000 individuals emigrated from Southern Italy over the past ten years, a territory that has become the Cinderella of Europe …