Dear readers, we are finally here with the new version of La Voce di New York.
We have planned and worked on it for months, getting it tailor-made; we are now online wearing our brand new outfit, dressed in white like the fine paper that is kept for important letters, in bold black like indelible ink, and with a dash of red that betrays our passionate Italian origins.
Past and future, pen and computer, Italy and America.
As promised, we continue our journey that began two years ago, stronger and more committed than ever, with the goal of becoming the most important Italian-language publication in the world outside of Italy.
Liberty Meets Beauty: our new path begins with these three words.
We’ve often spoken about liberty, and liberty is our foundation as journalists protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Ours is a newspaper published in America, and we will continue to be impartial and independent, proudly still believing in the value of writing and of journalism.
But these days, Beauty is the real news. It is for us, but I believe it is for everyone. Seeking out and talking about beauty these days can intrigue, attract, and encourage debate, against every kind of indifference. However, we are not naïve; beauty does not mean making excuses or being unwilling to see. The beauty that we seek is in the moving story that is also sad and painful, that leads to hope and change, and the in-depth investigation that causes outrage; in the memorial day that acts as a reminder, in athletic feats or adventurous exploits; in courage and challenge; in a new look at the everyday, because we believe, after all, in a better world.
Goodness equals beauty: I have a special memory of my mother that I want to share with you. I started to study philosophy for the first time, and as I was doing homework, I didn’t understand much at all, plus in my adolescent mind studying was to be done as quickly as possible to get to playing soccer. My mother, sitting down next to me as I squirmed and fidgeted, said to me: “Stefano, philosophy is not complicated if you fall in love with it right away. And to love it, learn the philosophical concept of beauty that comes from ancient Greek thought and continues to today. Beauty is understood not only as aesthetic pleasure, but also as a moral impulse towards goodness. To sum it up: what is good is beautiful, and vice versa…”.
Modern art and society have kept beauty and goodness separate. After all, an attractive person can also hurt you very much, just like a hamburger with too many french fries; but my mother’s lesson was useful and has stayed with me.
And finally the third word: meets.
VNY specifically wants to be a bridge between Italy and the USA. We want to talk to you about the United States and New York from an Italian perspective and tell you about Italy from an American one. This exchange across the Atlantic is what we mean by the meeting of liberty and beauty.
And so we will write about New York and its news because what happens here today, happens someplace else tomorrow. And we will tell you about the Italy of innovation, emphasizing the stories of those living in Italy who have an “American” approach towards creativity, new ideas and work to make their dreams come true in the Bel Paese. We will tell you about those who decided to leave, preserving a history that might end up tying together a common thread between the emigrants of yesterday and the migrants of today.
And lastly, in doing all of this, we will not lose sight of the rest of the world from our privileged location in the Headquarters of the United Nations, an organization too often described as a self-serving bureaucracy but one that has played a fundamental role in the world. It is an organization that has also become a little bit more Italian thanks to people such as Staffan De Mistura, who is mediating the peace process in Syria with a diplomatic professionalism that has impressed the rest of the world. Thanks also to Filippo Grandi, recently elected head of the UNCHR, the refugee agency, and who has already demonstrated his extraordinary organizational gifts.
In our new role, we will endeavor to never become predictable. We won’t always agree, but we hope to have honest debates marked by mutual respect.
The supreme value that will guide us will always be respect for the truth, which should always be sought after, even if absolute truth will never be reached.
Thank you once again to all our wonderful readers for continuing to read and support the brand new VNY.
Just one favor: spread the “word”…
