The most important newspapers are easily found online. Here there are only 5 of them:
- Il Messaggero
- Il Corriere della Sera
- La Stampa
- La Repubblica
- Il Fatto Quotidiano
These newspapers are definitely quite challenging. If your level is intermediate, you can experience almost complete satisfaction reading them. But if your level is lower, don’t be discouraged; it's still a good exercise for you to reach a fair level of understanding of the written language quickly. Take your time, newspapers are an important means for entering more and more into the Italian language, life, Italian culture, politics and in the news. In short, reading newspapers is a great way to upgrade us from students to scholars of Italy. It is more a matter of motivation than the level of the language.
How do I know if I'm reading an article suited to my level?
In order to decide whether an article is suitable for you, the best system is this:
- Read the article quickly (about 3-4 minutes);
- Assess the degree of understanding of the text (as a percentage more or less 1% or 8% or 30% ...);
- If you think you've understood about 10% or more after a single reading of three minutes, that article is good for you!
If you think you have understood less, no problem. It is not time for you to read that text yet. You can read it in a while, when you gain more reading experience.
Our advice is to read the same page 3 or 4 times quickly and look up no more than 7 words you do not understand in the dictionary. This is an effective and inexpensive (in time) which is also used in journalism. To read an article, 10/15 minutes or so should be enough and then you can switch to another article. Thus, the ratio between the time spent reading and the general understanding is high. If satisfaction grows, confidence in your skills grows as well.
Caution: Do not expect to understand all the words. It leads to stress and frustration. Your goal is general understanding
The five most important Italian newspapers
A few words on the papers presented here.
- Il Messaggero – founded in 1878, is a historic national newspaper based in Rome, owned by Caltagirone Editore, whose majority shareholder is Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, entrepeneur and building contractor. “It is the seventh Italian newspaper by circulation and the most sold in the capital. Its historical site is in Via del Tritone 152, in a building of the early 20th century. Find articles, videos and photos. On Tuesdays you can also find, with the newspaper, the interesting insert "Il Messaggero TV" full of video interviews with Italian celebrities: singers, comedians, actors, etc. The video length is generally from 3 to 6 minutes. These videos can be valuable materials for listening exercises as proposed in “Listening to movie trailers”. On Saturdays we can also find "Il Messaggero casa" (house) and on Sundays “Legalmente Aste e Affari” ("Legally Auctions and Business") for people looking for a house in Rome. The language of this daily is more accessible to foreign readers, compared to that of other newspapers, which we present here
- Il Corriere della Sera is a historic Italian newspaper, founded in Milan in 1876. Published by RCS MediaGroup. It is the most widely read daily newspaper in Italy. The newspaper's slogan is " Freedom of ideas." Among its directors and its journalists there have been and are great protagonists of journalism, politics and culture: Dino Buzzati, Luigi Pirandello and Pierpaolo Pasolini among many others.
Here you can find articles, videos and pictures.
It is considered a serious and complete newspaper by its readers.
- La Repubblica – is another important Italian daily, based in Rome, founded in 1976, part of Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, of which 54% is controlled by Compagnie Industriali Riunite (CIR) of entrepreneur Carlo De Benedetti . Currently it is the third largest newspaper in Italy by circulation (paper and digital publications), after Il Corriere della Sera and Il Sole 24 Ore and the second most widely read daily newspaper after Il Corriere della Sera.The center-left La Repubblica also boasts big names of journalism who write or have written on its pages: Eugenio Scalfari, Vittorio Zucconi, Roberto Saviano, Piero Ottone and several others. The quality of its writing style is, on average, more difficult to understand than Il Corriere della Sera and Il Messaggero in particular.
- La Stampa –is another historic Italian newspaper, centrist, based in Turin. It is the fifth Italian newspaper by circulation (the fourth, excluding sports papers. It was founded with the paper Gazzetta Piemontese and it took its present name in 1895. It belongs to the Italian editions S.p.A. (ITEDI S.p.A.), 77% owned by the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and therefore to the Agnelli family.
- Il Fatto Quotidiano is an Italian newspaper founded in 2009 by Antonio Padellaro, who was director from the beginning until February 3, 2015. Then the direction was passed to the former vice director Marco Travaglio. The publication has an average circulation of about 45,000 copies and an average of about 400,000 readers. It is a young lively newspaper and is the most deployed in criticism of government work. Here you can find information and investigations that uncover corruption, scandals, dishonesty, ... regardless of the importance and power of the people they affect, without compromise. The editorial policy is to not make concessions to anyone: politicians, businessmen, captains of industry, bankers, etc.
Much importance, of course, is placed on investigation.
General consideration
Keep in mind that, at the beginning, first names, acronyms, or other references could be unknown to you or can make the reading complex. This happens if you read articles on politics or economy in particular.
You have two options in this case:
- forget it and move on to another article;
- look for help on the Internet.
Consider the fact that this situation occurs even reading a newspaper at home, in your mother tongue. But over time you will "enter" more and more in everyday social life and in the country where the newspaper in question is a national or local newspaper.
Happy reading and ... try it!
