The year 2024 closes with a story that holds within it many stories. Stories, like the title of Cecilia Sala’s podcast, arrested in Iran while doing her work as a foreign reporter, which tells the complexity of the world through the symbolic and affective narratives that people offer. Journalism, the serious kind, not just parlor journalism or convenient miscellaneous opinion talk, still contains risks. Second, the world of the 21st century is not one where freedom and democracy prevail. We Westerners are drained now to grieve, not without reason, over our woes and faults. But we now consider the values we have won for ourselves a triviality. Yes, there is unfortunately a banality of good as well as evil. The stories also serve to shake us out of this deadly laziness.
The third point: the geopolitics of 2025 inherits in full the fever of 2024. It is unclear how much Trump’s arrival, even official, in January in the White House will affect a possible peace in Ukraine, but the Middle East is simmering not only because of the Gaza issue. Iran’s Shiite Islamic regime, tested by the Hezbollah crisis and the end of the Assad era, is increasingly dangerous to defend itself. Nuclear on the one hand, terrorism on the other, as well as targeted kidnappings and arrests in exchange for hostages. Cecilia Sala’s, justified with generic violations of Islamic laws, seems to be one of them.
Last topic: once again it will be seen how much European and Italian diplomacy matters. The foreign minister has called for calm and prudent media. I, personally, as a journalist and editor and as a representative of Good Morning Italy and related newspapers, sincerely hope that everything goes well and I join the call for Cecilia’s release by all available means, first and foremost her return home. It is the best wish for the coming year. Happy 2025 to all!
The article Good stories for 2025 comes from TheNewyorker.
