Camilla Gargioni

Nov 5, 2018

“A story is something that someone somewhere doesn’t want you to tell” writes Mark Thompson, New York Times CEO and previous BBC General Director, in his book. Let’s be honest, the work of a journalist is not limited to explaining what is happening; it is also valuable in that it permits people to see reality through someone else’s eyes. In the last edition of Veumeu in May, I decided to apply for the press exactly for that reason. I’m not the kind of person that enjoys Cicerian arguments or debates. I’d like to observe and later give my vision of reality. In the context of the simulation, the role of journalists has been more than fundamental. Every night, when the MEPs got rid of the characters they had built and were getting back to their students’ life, we as press members started putting together all the materials we had collected during the day: interviews, reports, last minute declarations. The press room was always active, we didn’t stop until our newspaper was perfect. Perfect for all the ones that next morning would have opened it, finding not only a summary of what had happened between the Parliament and the Council, but a super-partes view of the facts, maybe with uncomfortable truths or stories not to be told, as described by Thompson. When you are too invested in your role, you often lose the overall view. That’s why it’s useful to see things from another point of view, especially when you have to take decisions. During the simulation, the Parliament and the Council had to approve or reject two important directives. Parties, in order to make their positions matter, had the necessity to form alliances. As in the real world, in those three days in San Servolo, island in the Venetian lagoon where the simulation took place, the fourth power acted perfectly as glue, as a mean through which individuals or parties could make others understand their positions, promoting useful debates. In days in which the role of the press is being reconsidered and European elections are getting closer and closer, I invite you all to challenge yourselves to take  part in a diplomatic simulation. Whether you’re scared or brave, insecure or determined, you’ll discover from the inside how those organs work. “Try it and see” seems overused, but trust me, once you’ll be in a world so rich in incentives, you will not want to get out of it anymore. My experience this May was so beautiful not only because of what I learnt about the EU, but mainly for the people I met and the friendships I made. Because of this, at that point that I made myself part of this amazing project which is the Venice Diplomatic Society.