Monday, January 21, 2013

Italy: Il Manifesto to go on

Contrary to what was reported a month ago, Italian historical communist newspaper Il Manifesto continues alive, not without difficulties.


Il Manifesto lives, Pubblico closes, Liberazione is back: update on the Italian mediascape


Contrary to our report in December, the 40+ year history of il manifesto did not end abruptly early in 2013. On December 28, 2012, the Ministry of Development reached a last-minute agreement with a new cooperative. The deal allows this new body, born from the ashes of the previous financial board, to continue publication without a break, using the same name and style.

A new chapter has now opened for the veteran Communist newspaper, which is still dealing with the fall-out from last year, including desertion by many and very public splits. Several former contributors have protested that they were excluded from the new body, including Daniele Barbieri (the former Emilia Romagna correspondent) and Cinzia Gubbini (the website’s former managing editor). The new management is seeking to turn the page, though, by calling it a ‘new story’ – one that has not been written yet.

Meanwhile, the wider mediascape of Italian left continues to evolve. Another left-wing newspaper, Pubblico, shut down on January 1, 2013. A recent addition to the Italian media, Pubblico had been around for slightly over three months. It was founded and directed by Luca Telese in the wake of a polemical disagreement with Il fatto quotidiano, the fiercely anti-Berlusconi newspaper he co-founded in 2009 with Marco Travaglio and Antonio Padellaro. Travaglio’s growing sympathies for Beppe Grillo’s Movimento Cinque Stelle were among the reasons for the split.

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