Angelo Paura
I am the U.S. correspondent for Il Messaggero, one of Italy’s leading daily newspapers, where I report on politics, finance, the economy, and the intersection of media, technology, AI and power.
I worked as Editorial Director at Blasting News, where I led newsroom innovation, fact-checking initiatives, and explored AI applications in journalism. I also managed two EU-funded projects: Fake News Sicily and Eunomia.
I worked as an analyst and editor at NewsGuard, evaluating the reliability of news outlets worldwide, and collaborated with the NYU Media Lab at NYU to develop and produce a newsletter on AI and local news.
My reporting and analysis have appeared in Politico Europe, BBC World Service, MediaShift, ProPublica, Motherboard, the International Center for Journalists, the Tow-Knight Center, BuzzFeed, Il Sole 24 Ore, Il Corriere della Sera and Mediaset - Tgcom24, among others.
I hold a Master’s degree in Engagement Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, New York. I am a U.S. and Italian citizen. I’m based in New York.
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Atacama, stories from the future
The Ethical Challenges of Immersive Journalism
It’s the year 2028. In your virtual
reality headset, where you can watch the news in an immersive,
360-degree view, the President of the United States is standing in front
of you. But are you sure it’s really the president, and not a
simulation reciting some troll’s script? Can you trust VR journalists to
be honest with audiences and follow journalistic ethics?
Read moreMediashift
Way to an Italian Populist’s Heart Is Through His Stomach
The appeal of populist parties, no matter in what
country, is often based on the idea of a glorious past that’s been lost,
and might be restored. For some, this takes on the form of an obsession
with land and “purity,” or nostalgia for white supremacy. For others,
it’s about an economic system that rewarded hard work or protected the
“everyman.” In Italy, perhaps unsurprisingly, the way to the populists’
hearts is through their stomachs.
Read morePolitico
Pizzagate Is not Dead
Hey, this is Angelo Paura.
In the parallel world of the post-truth culture spread by the former
U.S. President Donald Trump, rumors persist about a ring of pedophiles
engaged in ritual Satanic abuse, allegedly centered in an anonymous
pizza joint in the heart of Washington, DC. Even after more than seven
years, the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory continues to be a topic of
discussion on infamous far-right and alt-right message boards worldwide.
Recently, it saw a resurgence in interest thanks to Elon Musk, who
shared a meme on X, explaining to his 165 million followers that,
indeed, "Pizzagate" is real.
In this issue, we will endeavor to comprehend the origins of this
discredited conspiracy, why it maintains relevance today, and its
anticipated longevity in the years ahead. Let’s go 🍕!
Read more
LinkedIn / Blasting
For the Next International Confrontation, Look at the Moon
Imagine
for a moment that we can move ahead 30 years. In an empty white room,
the leaders of the United States, Russia, China and India are discussing
how to manage the resources of the moon and the asteroids.
Read moreIl Tascabile
How to Destroy Your Optimism about Silicon Valley
He never stops for a moment. He gets up, gesticulates and repeats every single movement. “Can you hear me? OK, so I’m doing a good job with the draft of my work. We have to set up a meeting because I want to talk about how the book is developing.” I peek from outside his office, whose the door is partly open. He keeps talking and signals me to come in and sit down, but I have to be patient for few minutes.
An intimate talk with Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist, anticapitalist and open source advocate.
Read moreMedium
Crosses, Hymns and Rock Music
Fathers and Sons Lining up since Dawn
“Charlie Died for Us”
From Glendale, Arizona
“Jesus is at the center of everything,” repeat two people, reading the slogan printed on the T-shirt of one of the thousands of MAGA supporters waiting in line outside the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, for the ceremony honoring right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
It’s 6:30 in the morning, and the line to enter the service seems endless — dotted with red caps, American flags, eagles, and slogans about freedom, but above all, about religion.
Inside the stadium, the prayer service begins at 8 a.m., led by a Christian rock band — one of many in a genre that has become increasingly popular across the United States. “If you believe, God will save you,” says the lead singer.
Read more
Il Messaggero
Published in Italian
Trump Offers Superchip to China as Nvidia Hits $5 Trillion Valuation
Donald Trump’s strategy toward China is coming into focus. After spending his first term unraveling diplomatic and trade ties between the two countries, the former president is now — though with difficulty — attempting to rebuild a relationship with Beijing. But he’s doing it on his terms, putting U.S. commercial interests and trade priorities first.
That approach was on full display during his overnight meeting with Xi Jinping in South Korea, marking a potential turning point after nearly a year of aggressive rhetoric, tariffs over 100% on Chinese goods, and tit-for-tat blows on sensitive sectors — from American soybeans to China’s rare earth minerals.
So what did Trump bring to the table? The one thing Beijing wants most: Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI chips. More specifically, the Blackwell processor — considered by analysts the most advanced artificial intelligence chip currently in production — and a potential game-changer in U.S.–China tech relations.
Read moreIl Messaggero
Published in Italian
New York, the Italian Vote: “Cuomo Is One of Us” — But Young People Back Mamdani
On Arthur Avenue, the heart of the Bronx’s Little Italy, the Italian American community is divided. Should they close their eyes and vote for a fellow Italian, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, despite his Democratic label? Or should they stand by the Republican Party and back Curtis Sliwa, a longshot candidate without even Donald Trump’s endorsement?
“I’m with Sliwa, and so are my sons — he’s done a lot for New York,” says Maurizio, chatting outside his barbershop. “Mamdani is too young and inexperienced. He promises things like free buses for everyone — but who’s going to pay for that?” He shrugs. “My wife and other relatives, though, are voting for Cuomo, because of his ties to the Italian American community.”
Two men exiting the butcher shop next door weigh in: “We’re with Sliwa — we’re Republicans,” says Marco, who owns a small business nearby. Owners of a popular local pizza place, speaking on condition of anonymity, share the same view: “Mamdani will hurt small businesses.” One adds, “Good thing we don’t vote here — we live in Westchester County.”
Read moreIl Messaggero
Published in Italian
Mamdani Takes New York, “Time for a new era”
On Tuesday night, shortly after 11 p.m., Zohran Mamdani took the stage at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater and opened his victory speech by quoting Eugene Debs — the activist who ran for U.S. president five times in the early 20th century as the candidate of the Socialist Party of America, and lost every time.
“I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani said after winning the election with 50.4% of the vote, following a campaign marked by unprecedented grassroots engagement, especially among young people.
“I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” he continued.
Mamdani also sought to reassure New York’s Jewish community — a third of whom supported him at the polls, despite over a thousand American rabbis having publicly urged voters not to back him. As of Wednesday morning, some members of the community expressed confusion and concern.
“And we will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism,” Mamdani said.
Read more
Il Messaggero
Published in Italian
“Wikipedia is not Digital Maoism”
In 2017, I had the opportunity to interview Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia — someone I had first met a few months earlier during my fellowship at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
At the time, public conversations around algorithms, data exploitation, and the growing power of tech giants — as we know them today — were just beginning to take shape. I had been living in the United States for six years and still felt genuinely inspired by the Silicon Valley model and the sense of technological utopia it carried: the ambition to make the world better by making information more open and accessible.
That spirit was very much present in the 2017 interview, during which we discussed, among other topics, WikiTribune — an ambitious experiment in participatory journalism that, in my view, never received the recognition or success it deserved.
Read more
Pagina99
Published in Italian
We Fled from Kyiv, Now we Fight Putin Online
On
the morning of Thursday February 24th, Andrei woke up suddenly at 5:30
to a call from his father, a doctor in one of the main hospitals in
Kyiv: "Wake up because they are bombing Kyiv. You have to leave the city
now”. “I was pretty scared. First, I drove to my girlfriend's house,
which is not far from my place in Kyiv. Then, when I realized that my
father would not have left the city in order to treat civilian
casualties, we left the city.”Andrei is 25 years old. He earned a degree in computer science at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and, like most of his peers, he works as a computer engineer for a Ukrainian company that sells IT services abroad, mainly to US and European companies.
Read more
Blasting News