A guide to Italian newspapers

by Andrew Whittaker
March 9th, 2010

Italy is gearing up for a round of regional elections that will be used to gauge how well Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has dealt with a year of scandal. The campaign hasn’t gone as well as it might for the premier, not least because a bureaucratic cock-up within the PDL ranks saw his party dropped from the ballot sheets in Lazio and Lombardy. Whoops.

The Italian media will no doubt report the elections using their tradition for intricate commentary; for long and complex analysis. If you want a snap sketch, consult the foreign press – if you want a detailed portrait, reach for an Italian broadsheet. Here’s a brief guide to which national papers do what:

On the left
Corriere della Sera. First published in 1876, the venerable ‘Evening Courier’ is the most widely read broadsheet in Italy. Over the years, the intelligent content has drawn some of Italy’s greatest intellectuals and novelists to its reporting ranks. Publishing one national and four regional editions, Corriere della Serra currently sells about 600,000 a day.
La Repubblica. A relative newcomer which first hit newsstands in 1976, the Rome-based paper blends general interest content with centre-left politics, and battles it out with Corriere for the highest sales. Like Corriere it prints regional editions. Total sales amount to around 580,000 a day.
La Stampa. A centrist, mildly left-leaning daily first published in Turin in 1867 (and originally titled Gazzetta Piemontese). Circulation hovers around 330,000.

On the right
Il Giornale. Launched in 1974 in reaction to the left-wing parties of the era, the Milan-based paper (with regional editions) sells around 200,000 copies a day.
Il Messaggero. Essentially a Roman newspaper but with sister publications in other regions, Il Messaggero sells a conservative line to more than 200,000 readers daily.