Italian Newspapers

It began in simplistic form in colloquial language style with humor but its instant popularity soon required something more of this new public information access.

Italians read in private and in public at cafes and in squares, which created an atmosphere of discussion and debate. Intellectuals formed groups to discuss these early readings and these associations led to a more journalistic style of presenting information. These 'pamphlets' of short essays on politics or current affairs provided a fast way of distributing information among the general population. They were meant to be controversial and were soon accompanied by gazzettes that also featured local news and advertisements to support the daily or weekly publishing of information.

Censorship occurred during the Napoleonic reign forcing newspapers to circulate in secret or close down altogether. With the return of a free society came photography, which added life to these pages of black ink. The invention of the printing press meant large quantities could meet high public demand.

Today, Italians love their sports newspapers. In fact, the most popular daily sports paper has a circulation of about 57,000, just 30,000 less than the most widely circulating daily newspaper in the entire country.

To view various Italian Newspapers online, please view the links below:

l'ANSA

Corriere della Sera

Il Giorno

Il Messaggero

la Repubblica.it

La Stampa

The Holy See News Service