Il Fatto Quotidiano
For some reason I woke up early today. What to do? Why take the dog out, and grab a coffee at my local bar, of course. I also managed to lay my hands on today’s edition of Il Fatto Quotidiano, which leads with a headline stating that Italy’s Justice Minister Angelino Alfano is under investigation for alleged abuse of office.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a blow by blow account of what is in Italy’s recently launched independent newspaper, Il Fatto Quotidiano, today. No, something else.
Il Fatto Quotidiano Not on Display
When I got to my local news-stand, I looked for Il Fatto Quotidiano, but could not see it amongst the usual crop of Italian dailies. No, I had to ask for it. I was told that twenty one copies of the newspaper had been supplied that morning, but I thought it odd that they were not on display.
I wonder if anyone else has come across this. It does seem strange that this hot selling paper is not there for all to see. Or perhaps someone is not too keen on people buying this paper?
Got to go near some other news-stands today, so I’ll have a look and see what the situation is elsewhere. Out of curiosity.
Maybe I’m seeing Black Helicopters! I passed one news-stand with Il Fatto Quotidiano clearly on display, and there were about five or so copies remaining. The other news-stand I had a look at while on my way somewhere else did not have Il Fatto Quotidiano on display, but this place never has many papers on display anyway. Time? Around 9:30 am.
La Voce – Closed Down in 1995
From what I’ve been told by Italian reader Elisa, the last attempt made to release an independent paper in Italy was Indro Montanelli’s La Voce. A Blog from Italy reader stated that La Voce was forced to shut down its presses after just over a year. This does not bode well for Il Fatto Quotidiano, although in those days, .pdf copies of newspapers distributed via Internet were little more than a mere gleam in the eyes of a few visionaries. Sales of the digital version of this new paper may keep it in print longer than its forerunner.
Looking at the Italian Wikipedia entry on La Voce, the reason given for La Voce’s demise are a fall in sales a loss of advertising revenues plus fleeing investors, but it is interesting that Elisa should have commented that it was ‘forced’ to close down.
Indro Montanelli on Wikipedia – in English
Hi Alex, I have to admit that I am more than happy to read anything you wish to write about Il Fatto Quotidiano here. I don’t speak Italiano and therefore it’s a closed door to me however I do know a little about Indro Montanelli and am curious to see how this newspaper fare with its attempt at independent reporting.
I told everyone I knew about it, although they probably already knew …
Hey, I also recommended your site to a Canadian living in Tirana, she was looking for accomodation in Rome. I had recommended my favourite, Hotel Campo dei Fiori and then recommended you had some Roman recommendations. I assured her we both had impeccable taste and were extremely modest
Anyway, interested in anything you have to say on the newspaper …
Thanks Di
You are too kind as usual.
I’ll be keeping an eye on Il Fatto Quotidiano’s progress, but what has been written so far will be irritating quite a few of those who are in high places in Italy, methinks. I have not seen anything on Italian tv news about it yet either, but then it is possible I missed something. I’m not plugged into the telly all day.
Hope your friend in Tirana finds a good place to stay in Rome. I agree, we do both have impeccable taste and we are exceedingly modest!
Thanks too, for spreading the word about my scribblings. You’ve got some great images on your site! Keep on shooting!
I’m feeling a bit grotty today. Tail end of a flu bug thing, I think. Don’t think it’s the dreaded swine flu, I just feel slooooow. Your comment cheered me up!
Got to work at least part of this weekend too. Feeling quite sorry for myself, I am. Boo hoo.
Cheers,
Alex
Hi Alex, I have been buying “Il Fatto Quotidiano” since it came out and I find it very interesting and independent in its articles. These people are really researching on facts and they chastise not only Berlusconi but also the Left for their lack of ideas and courage (“they are part of the same casta”) and for their faulty democratic procedures during the ‘Primarie’.
Nice to hear from you Man of Roma!
And very interesting to hear your thoughts on Il Fatto Quotidiano too, especially when you say that it writes about the failings of both Italy’s right and left. This is as it should be in any newspaper, even if most do tend to ‘sway’ either to the left of the right. Il Corriere, I hear quite often tend to swing from being left one day to right the next!
From what I have gathered, people seem to be labelling this new Italian paper as being ‘leftist’. This is a shame, as Italy could do with a truly independent paper which does not lean in any direction in particular. As far as I can make out, it is not overly left wing, but I want to know more about the journalists behind it and see which way they apparently lean.
Facts, however, are always better than thinly disguised propaganda.
As a matter of interest, do you feel Il Fatto is too left wing?
I hope the paper is a success.
All the best,
Alex
Well, in my opinion Il Fatto is a bit left wing, although not like ‘Il Giornale’ is right wing. What I mean is that it is rather an against-Berlusconi paper though it severely criticizes the Leftfor its connivance, as an example, with the Right as regards many bills – for not passing a bill against Berlusconi’s conflict of interest, when the Left was in power, and recently for the absence of many left wing MPs, which actually had the consequence of the horrid ‘Scudo fiscale’ bill being passed and becoming an effective law. Many journalists in Il Fatto come from the Left but try to be honest, although in Italy a total independence of the press from political factions is hardily conceivable.