Il Fatto Quotidiano

il Fatto Quotidiano
Non riceve alcun finanziamento pubblico
("We do not receive any public funding")
Front page of the first issue of the newspaper on 23 September 2009
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatCompact
Owner(s)Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A.
EditorMarco Travaglio
Founded23 September 2009
Political alignmentLeft-wing populism
Anti-establishment (close to the Five Star Movement)
LanguageItalian
HeadquartersRome, Italy
Circulation53,242 (September 2022)[1]
ISSN2037-089X
Websiteilfattoquotidiano.it

il Fatto Quotidiano (English: "The Daily Fact") is an Italian daily newspaper owned by Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A. and published in Rome. It was founded on 23 September 2009 and was edited by Antonio Padellaro [it] until 2015, when Marco Travaglio became the editor.[2][3] The three deputy editors are Marco Lillo [it], Salvatore Cannavò [it] (a former MP for the Communist Refoundation Party and Critical Left) and Maddalena Oliva.[4]

Born on the long wave of Mani pulite and subsequent corruption scandals, it was a point of reference for the most intransigent anti-Berlusconism. Described by the likes of philosopher and journalist Alberico Giostra as a party-newspaper created by Paolo Flores d'Arcais and Travaglio, it has combined both left-wing and right-wing positions,[5] but it is broadly left-wing populist[6][7] and anti-establishment.

The newspaper says it is independent and objective.[8][9][10] It has been accused by critics of holding both left-wing and right-wing biases.[11][12][13] It is widely held to be politically close to the Five Star Movement (M5S),[14][15][16] including by Michele Santoro, the paper's co-founder,[17][18] and former contributor Luca Telese [it].[19] It has sometimes published editorials critical of the M5S.[20][21][22]

History

In late 2008, Marco Travaglio was asked by fellow journalist Massimo Fini [it] to advertise Fini's newly founded magazine, La voce del ribelle ("The Rebel's Voice"), on his blog Voglioscendere.it, with the objective of gathering "a few hundred subscriptions". Thousands of people answered, allowing Fini's magazine to succeed.[23] Because of this success, Travaglio started considering the idea of using his blog to launch a new newspaper, independent of public funding.[23] Travaglio announced his intention on 1 June 2009.[24]

The title il Fatto Quotidiano ("The Daily Fact") was chosen as a homage to journalist Enzo Biagi,[24] who at then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's request was removed from RAI, the Italian state television, in what became known as the editto bulgaro controversy; Biagi's daily ten-minute prime-time news commentary on Rai 1 was titled Il Fatto [it]. RAI refused to permit the newspaper to be called simply Il Fatto, asserting rights to that name. In June 2009, l'Antefatto,[25] a promotional website, was set up containing information about subscription and the development of the project.[24] Travaglio stated that the publisher would not use Italian state advertising and funding to run the newspaper but instead use only money from sales and market advertisements.[24]

The first issue, printed in 100,000 copies in addition to 32,000 subscriptions, was already sold out before 8:00 AM on 23 September; distribution was limited to the largest cities. As a consequence, the newspaper announced it would immediately double the number of copies and make the first issue available online free of charge.[26][27]

It is considered close to the Five Star Movement (M5S).[28] The pro-M5S line of the paper has caused internal clashes in the editorial staff and contributed to the resignation of several journalists, including Luca Telese [it],[19] Michele Santoro,[17][18] Davide Vecchi [it],[29] and Stefano Feltri [it].[30] Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, journalist and co-founder Furio Colombo said the paper had taken a pro-Russian stance, and resigned from the paper due to its hiring of Alessandro Orsini. He was also critical of the theories of Fini, a fellow columnist, on the German occupation of Italy during World War II.[31][32] Its reporting on the war has been seen as so pro-Russia and pro-Vladimir Putin that the Russian embassy has praised and retweeted it.[33][34][35]

Ownership

il Fatto Quotidiano is published by Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A., an Italian company; the managing director is Giorgio Poidomani. The company regulation states that up to 70% of the shares can be owned by entrepreneurs but that no one of them can own more than 16% of the share capital, estimated at €600,000.[8] The remaining 30% of the shares is owned by the newspaper columnists.[8] As a result, no important choice can be made without the consent of the columnists, as a 70% majority + 1 is needed to carry out decisions about the newspaper policy or editor election.[8]

Format and circulation

il Fatto Quotidiano is printed in the compact format and full colour. It is distributed in Italy by post and through over 25,000 newsagents in the major Italian towns and regions.[36][37] A significant fraction of the readership, about one fifth,[38] is made out of subscriptions to the PDF version of the newspaper. As of 25 December 2009, circulation of il Fatto Quotidiano was 113,000.[38] The paper had a circulation of 78,669 copies in 2010.[39]

Editors

Columnists

References

  1. ^ "Dati settembre 2022". ADS (in Italian). Accertamenti Diffusione Stampa. 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Il Fatto Quotidiano - Antonio Padellaro". ilfattoquotidiano.it (in Italian). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Il Fatto Quotidiano - Marco Travaglio". ilfattoquotidiano.it (in Italian). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Gerenza e contatti".
  5. ^ Giostra, Alberico (2018). Il partito del FQ. Chi trova un nemico trova un tesoro (in Italian). Trieste: Asterios. ISBN 978-88-9313-052-3. Retrieved 22 June 2023 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Where to get the news in Italy".
  7. ^ "Institutionalized Populism: The "Strange Case" of the Italian Five Star Movement - ECPS". 8 June 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Giorgio Poidomani, Senza Padroni in il Fatto Quotidiano page 22 published on 23 September 2009 (in Italian)
  9. ^ "OSCE Media Representative condemns intimidation of journalists in Italy". OSCE. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Il Fatto online is Italy's third most-visited news site". WAN-IFRA. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  11. ^ "News Media and Political Attitudes in Italy". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  12. ^ Rangeri, Norma (27 June 2018). "C'è vita a sinistra, il Fatto Quotidiano e il coniglio del manifesto". Il manifesto (in Italian). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  13. ^ "'Il Fatto' di Travaglio esalta il fascista D'Annunzio". Mondonuovo News (in Italian). 23 September 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  14. ^ Branca, Paolo (26 July 2018). "Il Fatto, organo di partito nell'Italia gialloverde". Strisciarossa (in Italian). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  15. ^ Conway, Kyle; Davier, Lucile (24 April 2019). Journalism and Translation in the Era of Convergence. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 57. ISBN 978-90-272-6255-4. Retrieved 27 June 2023 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Di Sanzio, Domenico (23 August 2021). "Da M5s a 'Pdf', il partito del 'Fatto'". Il Giornale (in Italian). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Michele Santoro contro Travaglio: 'Ridicolo che tutto il Fatto sia per il No'". Blitz Quotidiano (in Italian). 27 November 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  18. ^ a b Merlo, Salvatore (26 November 2016). "L'anno due di Michele Santoro". Il Foglio (in Italian). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  19. ^ a b Frenda, Angela (7 June 2012). "Telese: addio «Fatto», fondo il mio giornale". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  20. ^ Travaglio, Marco (10 July 2021). "Aridatece il Caimano". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Travaglio tramortito dall'accordo Draghi-Grillo sulla giustizia grida: Aridatece il Caimano!". Secolo d'Italia (in Italian). 10 July 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  22. ^ Cantini, Oriana (10 July 2021). "Travaglio demolisce M5s sulla riforma della giustizia: 'A 90° al cospetto di Draghi'". UrbanPost (in Italian). Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  23. ^ a b La Voce del Ribelle, a year later Archived 9 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, by Marco Travaglio on his blog.
  24. ^ a b c d "Abbonatevi a "Il Fatto" - Marco Travaglio - Voglio Scendere". 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  25. ^ "Presentazione de "L'Antefatto"" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  26. ^ The first issue of Il Fatto, Marco Travaglio.
  27. ^ First issue of Il Fatto.
  28. ^ "'Tired' Grillo overhauls leadership of Italy's 5-Star Movement". Reuters. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  29. ^ "Gli Angelucci strappano Davide Vecchi al Fatto Quotidiano e lo mettono a dirigere i Corrierini". Dagospia. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  30. ^ Fattorini, Marco (5 May 2020). "Giovane e brillante, liberale e manettaro, ecco chi è Stefano Zelig Feltri". Linkiesta. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  31. ^ D'Arcais, Paolo Flores (17 May 2022). "Furio Colombo: "Ecco perché ho lasciato Il Fatto Quotidiano"". MicroMega (in Italian). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  32. ^ Furio Colombo (19 May 2022). "Putin il lupo e i porcellini". La Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  33. ^ "L'ambasciata russa elogia Il Fatto Quotidiano che svela le 'bugie' sul conflitto. Il voltafaccio di Travaglio". Il Tempo (in Italian). 1 March 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  34. ^ "Ucraina, l'ambasciata russa elogia Marco Travaglio: 'Guerra nata dalla troppe bugie'". Libero (in Italian). 1 March 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  35. ^ Roberts, Hannah (20 May 2022). "Infowars: Putin's propaganda permeates Italian media". Politico. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  36. ^ "il Fatto Quotidiano: distribuzione in citta' e pronvincie" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  37. ^ "Dove arriva Il Fatto e perché". il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 22 September 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  38. ^ a b "I fatti del Fatto". Il Fatto Quotidiano. 25 December 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  39. ^ "National Newspapers". International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2015.