"Information won’t tell you what to think. It will give you the tools to think for yourselves." Ezio Mauro at the Liceo Europeo Vittoria

On Friday 15 May, in the main lecture theatre of the school, pupils from Years 11, 12 and 13 at the Liceo Linguistico Europeo Vittoria met Ezio Mauro — a journalist and writer, and former editor-in-chief of *La Repubblica* and *La Stampa* — for a morning session devoted to a highly topical issue: how to navigate the world of news today.

The format chosen said a lot about the spirit of the initiative: not a traditional lecture, but an interview conducted directly by the students.

The discussion centred on what a newspaper actually does — not merely gathering news, but prioritising it, putting it into context, and presenting it to the reader in a readable form. It also addressed what is lost when one merely ‘picks and chooses’ scattered information online, without any selection criteria. The relationship between information and democracy was explored: an informed citizen, Mauro said, does not necessarily vote in line with the newspaper they read — but they vote with greater awareness.

There was also time for a discussion on artificial intelligence, seen as a potential threat to freedom of thought, and for a reflection on populism and mistrust of knowledge — one of the most pressing issues of our time.

In closing, a piece of advice for the young people: nurture your passions, do not remain on the sidelines of public life, go out and vote. “The greatness of your freedom as a citizen lies in your ability to discern.”