Il Fatto Quotidiano is a new newspaper which hit Italy’s news-stands today.  By Italian standards, this newspaper is quite a bit different from others to be found in Italy.

Il Fatto Quotidiano – New Italian Newspaper

In a way, Italy’s newest national newspaper got off to a good start today, in that I could not find a copy at my local news-stand.

There must have been quite a lot of  interest, because the same news-stand bore a hand-written note announcing the fact that copies of Il Fatto Quotidiano had sold out.  I was told that only a few copies had arrived, and from what I’ve understood via Facebook, others have been unable to obtain a copy of what has already come to be known a ‘Il fatto’.

I’ve asked my news-stand to reserve a copy of tomorrow’s edition of Il fatto Quotidiano for me, by the way.

Why all this interest in a newspaper in Italy?  Well, Il Fatto Quotidiano is run by the Italian equivalents of Woodward and Bernstein, for a start. But there’s more.

A New Concept for Italian Journalism

Unlike other Italian newspapers, Il Fatto Quotidiano is not tied to an ‘interest group’, which means it is not allied to a political party, and nor is it owned by one of Italy’s family dynasties.

This newspaper intends to report hard facts, and not the often diluted versions of events which appear on the pages of other Italian dailies.

Italy’s Woodward and Bernstein

One could view the launch of the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano as being an attempt to bring true journalism to Italy, the sort of journalism which allowed investigative reporters like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to help uncover the goings on which led to the infamous Watergate scandal.

Behind this newspaper are Italy’s Woodward and Bernstein equivalents, Antonio Padellaro and Marco Travaglio.

Travaglio is very well known in Italy for being a journalist who is highly critical of Italy’s power-mongers and his words have made him a number of powerful enemies in Italy.   Recently, for example, attempts have been made to have Travaglio excluded from making his regular appearances on Italian political talk show AnnoZero which is broadcast on Italian state television.

Antonio Padellaro, while not as well known as Marco Travaglio perhaps, is another Italian journalist who has attempted to report on intrigues involving the shady affairs Italy’s political masters, and others.

Whether Il Fatto Quotidiano’s investigative duo will uncover any Italian style Watergates remains to be seen, and it will be interesting to see if this ‘innovative’ approach to journalism in Italy manages to survive.

Without a doubt, Il Fatto will be subject to various attempts to shut it down, as many Italy’s movers and shakers are extremely sensitive to negative criticism.

In Colour and Digital Formats

The first Edition of Il Fatto Quotidiano

Printed in colour and in both hard copy and digital formats, Il Fatto Quotidiano can be bought from news-stands like any normal newspaper, at a cost of €1.20.  Subscribers will also be able to download a .pdf version of the newspaper.  For €130 a year subscription readers will be able to download a digital .pdf version of the newspaper daily.

A subscription plan for overseas readers is to be announced shortly too.

As a matter of interest, Il Fatto Quotidiano was distributed to some 15,000 Italian news-stands today.

For the moment, the  Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper is only 16 pages in length, although if it does take off, one imagines that the number of pages will increase too.

Those behind this new venture were not 100% certain that this new journal would be launched.  Indeed, on the Il Fatto Quotidiano presentation website, it is stated that this new paper would only be born if people subscribed to it.

People must have done, because it exists!

Road to Success Could be Bloody

If, by any chance, Il Fatto Quotidiano does become a major force in Italian journalism, then it could bring about positive change to Italy.  However the road to success is likely to be rough and, possibly, bloody.

Italy’s newest newspaper faces other problems too.  Firstly, Italians are not the world’s greatest newspaper readers, and secondly, and unlike the rest of Italy’s press, this newspaper, in an attempt to remain independent,  is not going to accept the subsidies which the Italian government hands out to the rest of Italy’s newspaper industry.  Il Fatto Quotidiano is going to rely instead on income from subscribers, supporters, and advertisers to keep it going.

Still early signs are good, in that people obviously have taken an interest, as is evidenced by both the launch and the fact that I and a few others could not get hold of a copy!

With thanks to Alessio Baù for helping me find the First Edition image which can been seen on the right.

More information on Il Fatto Quotidiano can be found here , in Italian:  L’Antefatto – Il Fatto Quotidiano

Here’s another Guess Where in Italy post.  This time it is a picture of a well known church in Italy.

Do you know where this church can be found, and what it is called?  As you may know, Italy is littered with impressive churches.  I have no idea how many churches there actually are in Italy, but I am sure it is one heck of a lot.

Many of Italy’s churches exteriors conceal the most incredible interiors.  In fact, I might be true to say that many of Italy’s churches are more impressive internally than they are externally.  There is always an exception to the rule though, and one huge exception that I know is Milan’s spectacular Duomo.

Again, this quiz is just for fun, there is no prize.  It’s just to see how well you know Italy.

Where is this church in Italy?

And what is it called?

Guess where this church is in Italy

As usual, I’ll give you until this Saturday, but if nobody has managed to guess by Thursday, I’ll provide a clue.

Happy guessing, and web hunting!

Guesses via a comment please.

Boy is this one gorgeous Italian sports convertible.  I’m happy to say that I see plenty of Maserati’s growling along the streets of Milan, but I have not seen a Maserati Grancabrio as of yet.

It’s only a matter of time, I’m sure these automotive wonders will sell like hot Rolexes!  Or something like that.

Go feast your eyes on this beauty, the photo of which I have filched from the Maserati web site.  I’ll probably be arrested, but I don’t care.

I love the Maserati Grancabrio, desperately.

Here is the car which Porsche lovers should betray Porsche for:

Maserati GranCabrio

The delectable Maserati Grancabrio

If you don’t want one, you are completely bonkers!  And if you are thinking about changing that ageing Porsche droptop, change if for one of these!

There is plenty more mouth watering information on the Maserati site: Maserati GranCabrio

Blog from Italy’s 2009 Car of the Year

My car of the year for 2009.  Bar none.

Another Italian has, alas, probably fallen victim to the AH1N1 or swine flu virus.  Unlike the previous death which had been caused perhaps indirectly by a swine flu infection, this time the female victim was apparently in a good state of health.

AH1N1 virus

At the time of writing, no press release has been issued by the Italian Health Ministry on the case of the 46 year old woman who died at the weekend in a hospital in Messina, Sicily.  An autopsy is being carried out to identify the exact cause of death.

Reports in the Italian press give the reason for death as being pneumonia, a known, but rare complication which can result from swine flu infections.

What is significant about this case is that, unlike the previous victim, and as stated previously, the lady concerned did not appear to be suffering from other illnesses, and was not a smoker either.  This means that the case in Messina is potentially the first real death caused by swine flu in Italy.

8,000 Suspected Swine Flu Infections in Italy

To date there have been around 2,400 confirmed cases of swine flu in Italy, although it is suspected that the total number of infections is around 8,000.  Another 5 Italians are  hospitals in Monza, Mantua, Florence, Rome and Cesena with swine flu related complications.  These people are reported to be in a serious, but stable, condition.

Once the results of the autopsy on the woman in Messina are out, I’ll update this post.

Italy’s health minister, Ferruccio Fazio, is calling for people not to panic, and a mass vaccination program for those at greatest risk is due to begin shortly.

Source:

Ansa.it: 21 September, 2009: Influenza A: Fazio, paziente Messina probabile prima vittima – Swine Flu: Fazio, Messina patient a probable first victim

Our vineyard pretty much consists of one humongous and gnarly grape vine with lots of bunches of little grapes on it about now. Since we just recently bought our tiny bit of paradise, we have no idea what kind of grapes they are. They taste good. They’re small. They can’t decide if they’re white or red.

So, what to do with them? Schiacciata con l’uva, that’s what. It’s a flat bread, a sort of filled focaccia. But it has some interesting twists. There are two layers of dough with grapes between them. You press the top layer so that the trapped grapes get crushed to make a gooey center. Our little grapes are seen on the top layer of dough in the picture (click it to see it bigger). There’s some luscious olive oil bathing the grapes in rivelets filling the low spots in the white clouds of dough. It’s not just good oil, it’s been infused with some rosemary. You can see specks of sugar. Some folks use large crystals of salt on top.

So you might say, “hey, what’s with the sugar, the grapes, rosemary and olive oil? I can tell you, it’s a good combination. Much better than spaghetti with “Italian Dressing” and milk (see: The Worse Spaghetti Every?”:http://wanderingitaly.com/blog/article/526/the-worst-spaghetti-recipe-ever if you can stomach it). It’s also a traditional food. According to the schiacciata recipe I used from Divina Cucina, “It’s a true classic; you can see it pictured on the frescos in Etruscan tombs! “

I can tell you, it was yummy. And it’s just flour and yeast dough, but the grapes make it seem all creamy inside. My friend who is lactose intolerant thought he’d have to take a pill—but there’s no butter, no eggs, no milk or cream. Surprise!

It’s sorta the ultimate in Cucina Povera sorta food. When grapes are plentiful and cheap, you make something quite filling out of them for the family.

And I like that there are hundreds of variations. Some folks use wine grapes with seeds intact—for the crunch. Some use a baking powder dough as if making a coffee cake. I’m not so sure I’d like that version. We even make our Sunday morning waffles with yeast-raised dough.

Anyway, here it is cooling: