It is no longer enough to communicate: we need to understand, connect and restore trust. This is the premise from which the Brand Journalism Festival 2025 starts again, an event that will see us at greenMe among the media partners and which will take place on November 11th at the Talent Garden in Rome. The program and themes of the festival were presented yesterday at the Chamber of Deputies during a meeting involving representatives of institutions, the academic world, business and the media.
The event, conceived by Ilario Vallifuoco and promoted by Social Reporters, confirms itself as the main point of reference in Italy for those who believe in communication capable of uniting journalism and business in a common language, based on transparency, ethics and a culture of responsibility.
A laboratory of ideas and a space for discussion between communicators and companies
The BJF 2025, of which Unipol is the main partner, presents itself as a crossroads of visions and skills: a platform for discussion in which journalists, communicators and companies meet to build a common language, overcoming contrasting logics and promoting an idea of shared information, based on transparency, quality and responsibility. During the day of November 11th, there will be alternating talks, round tables and case studies dedicated to the new forms of business storytelling, the role of ethics in building reputation, the impact of artificial intelligence on editorial and communication processes, and the value of content as a lever of trust between brands and citizens.
Among the topics at the center of the debate: ethics and algorithms, how to guarantee responsibility and transparency in digital communication; reputation and authenticity, the new metrics of trust; storytelling and sustainability, the challenge of business storytelling in the era of social impact. The second edition of the Festival will see the participation of directors of national newspapers, communication managers of large Italian and international companies, university professors, and representatives of European institutions, including Alessandra Marino (European Commission) and Fabrizio Spada (European Parliament).
“With the second edition of the Brand Journalism Festival we are not limiting ourselves to consolidating a successful format, but we are certifying its generative nature – underlines Ilario Vallifuoco – The Festival is a laboratory of ideas, an ecosystem of minds that interact with the aim of overcoming the polarization between information and business communication and restoring value to an authentic story with real impacts. Brand Journalism, in this sense, it cannot be assimilated to marketing or advertising, but becomes a way of creating culture: it is the company that becomes the narrator of its time, with the ambition of reading and describing the changes that are affecting society, the economy and collective values.”
In a time marked by mistrust and misinformation, leadership is measured in the ability to communicate with authority. Whether it is companies, newspapers, universities or publishing houses, the challenge is the same: inspire, inform, lead. How do you build a credible reputation today? The panel “Behind the scenes: leadership and credibility in the information ecosystem”, which will be moderated by Simona Falasca, director of greenMe, will try to answer precisely this question.
A look at young people and their relationship with the news
The heart of the presentation is the preview of the results of the new Changes Unipol GenerationShip 2025 Observatory, created by Kkienn Connecting People and Companies. The survey, now in its fourth year, explores behaviors, habits and perception of information among young Italians aged 16 to 35, offering a detailed look at how the under 40 generation experiences and interprets the daily flow of news.
It emerges that 80% of those interviewed get information online, especially via social media (Instagram 79%, YouTube 43%, TikTok 40%, Facebook 41%). Over half of young people (53%) feel overwhelmed by information overload and 45% tend to avoid news, but the under 40 generation shows a critical sense: 69% check sources and 61% compare multiple newspapers. Awareness of phenomena such as deepfakes and information bubbles remains low (only 44% know what deepfakes are and 37% really understand their meaning). Information is seen as a tool for identity and utility: 60% use it for entertainment, 59% for practical life and 55% to cultivate interests. Attention is growing towards personal finance (30%), savings (47%) and investments (46%), while brand journalism is known by 52%, appreciated for its transparency and competence.
The presentation of the data from the GenerationShip 2025 Observatory underlines how corporate communication must today respond to the real needs of the new generations. Young people under 40, in fact, show attention to transparency, responsibility, authenticity and sustainability: values that are at the center of the Brand Journalism Festival. In this sense, the Festival does not limit itself to telling the story of the company, but proposes a narrative approach capable of creating trust and connections with those who listen, offering tools to build relevant and socially aware content.
The first space in Italy on health journalism is born
The Health Journalism Forum (HJF) was also born from the experience of the Brand Journalism Festival, which will debut in 2026 as a natural extension of the Festival. The HJF will be the first space in Italy dedicated to health journalism and health communication, designed to create a structured dialogue between media, institutions and companies in the sector. Supported by Eli Lilly as main partner, the Forum intends to promote a culture of health based on accuracy, transparency and social responsibility, responding to the growing needs for reliable information in a context marked by misinformation and mistrust.
