"Buone Notizie", a media in Italy that will act as mouthpiece for volunteerism and non-profits

The new Italian media "Buone Notizie" was born last September with the goal of being a publication that offers coverage for volunteerism and associations. In this sense, the charitable media was born as a reaction to the content range of mainstream media, where mostly bad news are highlighted. In spite of this, Elisabetta Soglio, editor-in-chief of the supplement to the daily Corriere della Sera asserted in an interview with La Vanguardia that they do not wish to induce to lachrymosity. “We are born from the awareness that there is a different way to manage the community and be part of it”, she stated.

In this manner, "Buone Notizie" could be the alter ego of other information portals concerning volunteerism and social issues, such as www.xarxanet.org. The supplement, which will be distributed free of charge starting from 19 September together with Corriere della Sera, will be an editorial platform for the Third Sector in Italy, and it will give voice to positive experiences. For a long time, Soglio has been in charge of matters associated with cooperatives, NGOs and volunteerism. In an article on the Italian newspaper, the economist Stefano Zamagni elaborates in the vein of Soglio and clarifies that "Buone Notizie" is not a collection of beautiful stories, but “the story of this corner of the world, made up of thousands of businesses and social cooperatives, seven million volunteers, foundations, associations, groups, research centers, and schools, which bears the name Third Sector”.

This new supplement will be paired with a website geared towards providing a service in which public tenders and subsidies are announced, and NGOs and non-profit organizations can aim for them. For instance, today October 4th, its website will publish an article about constructive journalism, a story about horticultural therapy, and an article offering five tips in order to reduce stress. In addition, the supplement has a fixed section entitled “My good news”, where a reader explains his/her experience in an effort to build a section with citizen participation and to make the public’s voices heard.

Presently, "Buone Notizie" has almost 24,000 followers and Facebook friends, and 1,417 of them are on Twitter. Those in charge of the publication also want to be well received by social enterprises and cooperatives wishing to insert advertisements, since topics like environmental awareness or campaigns advocating for the rights of migrant peoples can have a positive impact not only on readers and readers of the supplement, but on institution members.