la Repubblica
la Repubblica (Italian: [la reˈpubblika]; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023.[1] It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo, and Arnoldo Mondadori Editore as a leftist newspaper, which proclaimed itself a "newspaper-party" (giornale-partito).[2][3] During the early years of la Repubblica, its political views and readership ranged from the reformist left to the extraparliamentary left.[4] Into the 21st century, it is identified with centre-left politics,[5] and was known for its anti-Berlusconism,[6] and Silvio Berlusconi's personal scorn for the paper.[7]
This article is about the Italian newspaper. For other newspapers, see La República (disambiguation).In April 2020, the paper was acquired by the GEDI Gruppo Editoriale of John Elkann and the Agnelli family, who is also the founder and owner of La Stampa. Maurizio Molinari, the then editor of La Stampa, was appointed as la Repubblica's editor in place of Carlo Verdelli;[8][9] this prompted the resignation of several journalists opposed to this change.[10] Under Molinari, it took a moderate line,[11] and tried to go beyond the political left and right,[12] and against populism.[13] At the same time, because "information is essential to support and animate a widespread laboratory of ideas on what economic justice means today", it was concerned about economic and social inequalities.[14][15][16] Under Molinari, it equated work on paper to digital work and followed the digital first theory.[17] La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera are known for their fact-checking.[18] Alongside Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, Il Sole 24 Ore, and Il Messaggero, it is one of the main national newspapers in Italy.[19][20]
History[edit]
Foundation[edit]
la Repubblica was founded by Eugenio Scalfari,[21] previously director of the weekly magazine L'Espresso. The publisher Carlo Caracciolo and Mondadori had invested 2.3 billion lire (half each) and a break-even point was calculated at 150,000 copies. Scalfari invited a few trusted colleagues like Gianni Rocca, then Giorgio Bocca, Sandro Viola, Mario Pirani, Miriam Mafai, Barbara Spinelli, Natalia Aspesi, and Giuseppe Turani. The cartoons were the prerogative of Giorgio Forattini until 1999.[22]
Early years[edit]
The newspaper first went on sale on 14 January 1976. It was presented as the first Italian tabloid, with some sections such as sports and business intentionally left out. When it was founded, it was intended to be a second newspaper, with only major news at the national level, to an audience that has already read a local newspaper. It was composed of 20 pages and was published from Tuesday to Sunday. The paper defined itself as a "newpsaper-party" (giornale-partito) in its initial stage.[3]
During the first two years, it built up a core-audience identified as members of the centre-left and the Italian Communist Party (PCI). In 1977, Scalfari decided to cater to the university student movement, so la Repubblica began its expansion. The strength of the newspaper lay particularly in the editorial comments section, which was always incisive and thought-provoking. In the meantime, Giampaolo Pansa from Corriere della Sera became the deputy director, alongside Rocca and Pirani.
Political position[edit]
The newspaper was founded as a left-wing, reformist, and secularist paper. The newspaper played a role in the evolution of Europeanism and the Italian political left from 1984 to 1992.[42] It held a critical line towards the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, especially criticizing his conflict of interest as both an entrepreneur and politician. Scalfari criticized Berlusconi's television channels and urged an investigation into the origins of his fortune.[6] The paper also used to be known for its critical stand vis-à-vis the Catholic Church,[43] a position that changed after the onset of the papacy of Pope Francis,[44][45][46] who remembered Scalfari upon his death as a "laical friend".[47] In 2004, Angelo Agostini categorized it as the agenda daily (quotidiano-agenda), in contrast to the institution daily (quotidiano-istituzione) like Corriere della Sera and La Stampa, and the activist daily (quotidiano-attivista) like Il Foglio, Libero, and l'Unità.[3] Compared to one of its competitors, Corriere della Sera, a representative of the moderate bourgeoisie, la Repubblica maintains a centre-left, progressive orientation.[24]
After the acquisition of the paper by John Elkann in April 2020, Maurizio Molinari was appointed as the new paper's editor, in a move that saw several changes of position that were criticized, and that saw Molinari of La Stampa, which is also owned by Elkann's GEDI group, replacing Carlo Verdelli. Scalfari warned the paper not to move away from its liberal-socialist positions, which he described thusly: "I have always believed in a liberal socialism, capable of uniting equality and reformism ... at the forefront in guiding the country and Europe in this direction."[39] Critics described the Molinari appointment as the de-Scalfarization of the paper.[10] This prompted journalists like Enrico Deaglio, Pino Corrias, and Gad Lerner to end their cooperation with the paper.[48][49][50] Carlo De Benedetti, a former editor of the paper, also protested the decision to appoint Molinari as the paper's editor. In May 2020, De Benedetti announced the foundation of a new newspaper called Domani.[51]
Under Molinari, the paper took a moderate line. In his first editorial published on 25 April 2020, Molinari indicated the way to enhance both the paper and online versions of the paper, which was suffering losses in readership. He proclaimed the need to fight populism and the old and new inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In July 2020, he said: "We claim to address the crucial issues of this time. No longer dividing the world into the old right–left categories, but debating the environment, social inequalities, digital rights. [la] Repubblica is the gymnasium of ideas where it is possible to address these topics. It must do so by hosting multiple opinions, even if they are conflicting."[12] Into the 2022 Italian general election, the paper under Molinari was opposed to Giorgia Meloni's politics. Elkann asked Molinari to moderate the paper's anti-Melonism to keep in line with the Agnelli family's tradition of supporting the Italian government, whether from the political left or right; Meloni's party and coalition were widely seen as the favourite to lead the next Italian government. He referenced a quote from his grandfather, Gianni Agnelli, who used to say: "We are governmental and institutional by definition."[52]
Since 2004, the newspaper has published The New York Times International Weekly on Mondays. This English-language supplement features articles selected from The New York Times and can be downloaded free of charge from la Repubblica's website.[53]