Author: Alessandro Gori

Alessandro has worked for over 20 years as a freelance journalist reporting to publications and radio channels of 15 countries with 10 languages focusing on international politics, conflicts, European relations, minority questions and culture. He has also worked 15 years as an electoral observer and press officer. Alessandro participated in the programme 1998. After that he has visited Finland few times on his free time. After FCP programme, he published many reportages about Finland, and has also considered writing a book about Finland. He is interested in Nordic perspective to the global and European Union crisis, Finland’s relations with Russia and how Nokia has changed over the years. “I really love Finland, a country not so many people would know about. The local nature, the extreme position and climate, the subtle and peculiar humor of most Finns, for sure a different perspective about many aspects of life, which enriched me enormously.”

Experiences of conducting interviews in Helsinki

What a day was yesterday! During the FCP every day something new and unexpected happens. The programme is so dense that it feels as if we arrived here many days ago already, but in fact Wednesday was only the third day of our stay here.

In addition to the common meetings, we also started to work on our individual assignments. I remember in 1998 one of the several striking moments was to interview ...  (continue reading)

What does Finland mean to me?

Finland was truly important for me, both as a person and as a journalist. Between 1996 and 2004, I was there 6 times, out of which only one in the wintertime. For sure, the most striking visit was through the YJP in 1998.

I participated in many programmes for journalists but I can say that the YJP was really the best one, for the format, the approach, how people working with us was helpful, the group ...  (continue reading)