Marco Travaglio (; born 13 October 1964) is an Italian

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

, writer and

opinion leader Opinion leadership is leadership by an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end media users. Typically opinion leaders are held in high esteem by those who accept their opinions. Opinion leadership com ...

, editor of the independent journal ''

Il Fatto Quotidiano ''il Fatto Quotidiano'' (English: "The Daily Fact") is an Italian daily newspaper owned by ''Editoriale Il Fatto SpA'' published in Rome, Italy. It was founded on 23 September 2009 and was edited by Antonio Padellaro until 2015, when Marco Trav ...

''.

Biography

Travaglio was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and earned a degree in history from the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

. In 1992 he began to pursue journalism as a career. He started out writing for

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

publications such as ''Il nostro tempo'' ("Our time"), then worked under the renowned journalist

Indro Montanelli Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute. A volunte ...

for newspapers such as ''

Il Giornale ''il Giornale'' ( en, The Newspaper) is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Milan, Italy. History and profile The newspaper was founded in 1974 by the journalist Indro Montanelli, together with the colleagues Enzo Bettiza, Ferenc ...

'' and '' La Voce'' and gained the attention of Montanelli himself who once said of him: "No, Travaglio does not kill anyone. With a knife. He uses a more refined and not legally punishable weapon: the archives". Between 2006 and 2011, Marco Travaglio was a regular guest of the TV program '' AnnoZero'', hosted by

Michele Santoro Michele Santoro (born 2 July 1951) is an Italian journalist, and television host and presenter. He also served till October 2005 as Member of the European Parliament for Southern Italy with the United in the Olive Tree list, part of the Sociali ...

(also mentioned by Berlusconi in the so-called Bulgarian Edict). Recently, Travaglio has contributed as a columnist to prominent national newspapers and magazines, such as ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...

'', ''

L'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian language, Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, ...

'' (hosting columns such as "Bananas", "Uliwood Party" and "Zorro") and ''

MicroMega ''MicroMega'' is a political, cultural, social and economic newsmagazine published bimonthly in Rome, Italy. The title ''MicroMega'' is probably inspired by a tale by Voltaire. History and profile ''MicroMega'' was founded in March 1986 by the e ...

''. He still contributes to ''

L'espresso ''L'Espresso'' () is an Italian weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is '' Panorama''. Since 2022 it has been published by BFC Media. History and profile One of Italy's foremost newsmagazines, ' ...

'' writing a column by the name "Signornò'". In September 2009 he contributed to the founding of the independent newspaper ''

'' ("The Daily Fact"). He became editor in chief of the paper in 2015. Political and judicial events of national importance, from ''

Mani pulite ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian language, Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called "History of the Italian Republic#First ...

'' to the troubles of controversial political figure

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

, have been Travaglio's main area of interest. The journalist gained public attention in 2001, after participating in a TV show on state-owned national channel

Raidue Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, talk ...

called ''Satyricon'' and hosted by

Daniele Luttazzi Daniele Luttazzi (; born Daniele Fabbri on 26 January 1961) is an Italian theater actor, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer. His stage name is an homage to musician and actor Lelio Luttazzi. His favourite topics are politics, religion, ...

. He then introduced his bestseller book ''L'odore dei soldi'' ("The Scent of Money", co-authored by :Elio Veltri), which investigates the origin of Berlusconi's early fortunes. Berlusconi filed a lawsuit for slander, but since the information was accurate and well documented, he was condemned to pay the legal expenses. The show, aired during the campaign for the Italian general election, was heavily criticized by Berlusconi and his party and labeled by them as a politically motivated, non-objective personal attack. After Berlusconi's victory at the elections, Berlusconi banned Luttazzi (together with

Enzo Biagi Enzo Biagi (; 9 August 1920 – 6 November 2007) was an Italian journalist, writer and former partisan. Life and career Biagi was born in Lizzano in Belvedere, and began his career as a journalist in Bologna. In 1952, he worked on the screenpla ...

and Michele Santoro, prominent journalists that had criticized Berlusconi's or investigated his history) from state-owned TV shows ('' Editto Bulgaro''), causing a long debate about freedom of information and censorship in Italy. On 10 May 2008, Marco Travaglio commented on

Renato Schifani Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani (; born 11 May 1950
.) is an Italian politician who has served as the

's election as president of the Senate that one should "simply ask of the second highest office of the state to explain those relationships with those men who have subsequently been condemned for association with the Mafia" on the

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

current affairs talk show television program ''

Che tempo che fa ''Che tempo che fa'' (; ) is an Italian television late-night talk show hosted by Fabio Fazio.''Italy: Be Fluent in Italian Life and Culture'', Andrew Whittaker, page 219; Thorogood Publishing, year 2010, seGoogle books/ref> It has been broadcas ...

''.«Schifani diffamato da Travaglio»
Corriere della Sera, 11 May 2008Fazio chiede scusa in Tv a Schifani

, 11 May 2008 Compromised by compromise
blog by John Hooper (

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

), 13 May 2008 The statement of Travaglio resulted in fierce negative reactions from Italian politicians, including from the centre left, except for

Antonio Di Pietro Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor i ...

who said that Travaglio was "merely doing his job". Some called for chief executives at RAI to be dismissed. The political commentator (and future leader)

Beppe Grillo Giuseppe Piero "Beppe" Grillo (; born 21 July 1948) is an Italian comedian, actor, blogger, and politician. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder (together with Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the Italian Five Star Movement ...

supported Travaglio, while Schifani announced he would go to Court and sue Travaglio for

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

.Caso Travaglio, Schifani querela
'' Corriere della Sera'', 12 May 2008 Schifani said Travaglio's accusation was based on "inconsistent or manipulated facts, not even worthy of generating suspicions", adding that "someone wants to undermine the dialogue between the government and the opposition." In 2009, the German Association of Journalists assigned Travaglio its annual award for Freedom of the Press, describing him as a "brave and critical colleague ..exposing continually the attempts of Italian politicians, especially Silvio Berlusconi, to influence the media to their advantage and to negate critical reports." In February 2022, he called the news of an impending

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

an "American

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

". Travaglio is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Political leanings

Travaglio considers himself as having always been a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, or, like he says, "liberal-montanellian." During his 2001 interview given to

in the television program ''Satyricon'', he claimed to be a liberal ("a pupil of Montanelli") who found "asylum" in the Left area without identifying himself as leftist. In more recent interviews (2010), confirming such statements, he said he has ideas closer to positions that in other countries are normally represented by the

Right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

. In a letter sent to ''

il Giornale ''il Giornale'' ( en, The Newspaper) is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Milan, Italy. History and profile The newspaper was founded in 1974 by the journalist Indro Montanelli, together with the colleagues Enzo Bettiza, Ferenc ...

'' in 2007, Travaglio referred to himself as Catholic and anticommunist. In a 2008 interview given to , contained in the book ''Il rompiballe'', Travaglio said: "in France I would vote with closed eyes for a Chirac, a Villepin". "In Germany I would surely vote for Merkel. I liked very much

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and Thatcher". However, he said that "my Right doesn't exist. It's imaginary. It's the liberal Right. Cavour,

Einaudi Einaudi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Luigi Einaudi (1874–1961), Italian politician *Mario Einaudi (1905–1994), Italian political scientist, son of Luigi *Giulio Einaudi (1912–1999), Italian publisher, son o ...

, De Gasperi, Montanelli. All dead". During Rai 2's television program ''Dodicesimo round'' he stated that in the 2006 general election he had voted on the Senate «without holding my nose for the first time»: that's because, Travaglio said, "

Italy of Values Italy of Values ( it, Italia dei Valori, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former '' Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the p ...

made me the gift of candidating a person that I esteem and that has honored my of her friendship,

Franca Rame Franca Rame (18 July 1929 – 29 May 2013) was an Italian theatre actress, playwright and political activist. She was married to Nobel laureate playwright Dario Fo and is the mother of writer Jacopo Fo. Fo dedicated his Nobel Prize to her ...

". On March 29, 2008,

's blog published an article by Travaglio in which he again publicly expressed his vote for Italy of Value for the 2008 general election, however adding "while waiting for a new Einaudi or a new De Gasperi", confirming his liberal leanings. On the blog ''Voglioscendere'', on June 5, 2009, on the eve of the 2009 European Parliament election, he stated he would vote once again for Italy of Values because he was satisfied with its way of opposing the Berlusconi Cabinet. Interviewed by on March 22, 2011, on the television program '' Niente di Personale'' on

La7 La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Until 2013 it was a pay-per-view channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia. Signal overspill means that parts of Albania, Croatia, Swi ...

, he revealed that in the 1996 general election he had voted for Lega Nord in one of the two

chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

and for

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...

's The Olive Tree in the other chamber. He explained his vote for Lega Nord as the fulfillment of a promise he had made to himself after leaving ''Il Giornale'' in 1994: he would have voted for whoever would "throw down" Berlusconi. For the 2013 general election, in an article published on

, and also in the La7 television programs ' by

and ' by Lilli Gruber, he announced his vote for

Civil Revolution Civil Revolution ( it, Rivoluzione Civile, RC) was a left-wing coalition of political parties in Italy. The coalition was headed by Antonio Ingroia, a former anti-mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organiza ...

in the

Chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

and the Five Star Movement in the Senate. For the 2016 constitutional referendum about the Renzi- Boschi reform, Travaglio supported the "No" campaign and even wrote a book against the reform. For the 2018 general election, on March 8, 2018, on ''Otto e mezzo'' he stated that he had voted for the Five Star Movement. For the 2020 constitutional referendum about the reduction of the number of MPs in the Parliament, Travaglio supported the "Yes".

Awards and honors

*"International Press Freedom" (Pressefreiheit Preis, 2009) *"Premiolino" (2010)

Publications

Books by Marco Travaglio (usually co-authored with other investigative journalists) include: * ''Bravi ragazzi'' (Italian for ''Good fellas''), published in 2003 and reporting on politicians Cesare Previti and Silvio Berlusconi's alleged (and later confirmed by court's sentence Condanna definitiva, Previti a Rebibbia
Il Sole 24 Ore, 5 May 2006) corruption of judges *''Lo chiamavano Impunità'' ("They Call Him Impunity", a humorous reference to the Spaghetti Western '' Lo chiamavano Trinità''), published in 2003, about the SME-Ariosto inquiry and court trial *''Mani Sporche'' (Italian for "Dirty Hands") that reports about the years following the national scandal "

" (Italian for "Clean Hands") * ''Il Bavaglio'' ("The Gag") mostly about the Italian politicians' plans to limit freedom of speech and the investigative means of Italian Prosecutors investigating political corruption *''Per chi suona la banana'' ("For Whom the Banana Tolls"; the title is a pun on

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

, with a reference on the

banana republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring c ...

) * "La scomparsa dei fatti" (2006) *''Italia Anno Zero'', Chiarelettere, 2009, (coauthors: Beatrice Borromeo and Vauro Senesi) *'' È Stato la mafia'' (translated in "Mafia is State", but also a pun as the same sentence means "It was the mafia", despite "È stata la mafia" would be grammatically correct), Chiarelettere, 2014, *''Slurp. Dizionario delle lingue italiane. Lecchini, cortigiani e penne alla bava al servizio dei potenti che ci hanno rovinati'' ("Slurp. Dictionary of Italian tongues. Ass-lickers, courtiers and ''penne alla bava'' serving the powerful who have ruined us"), Chiarelettere, 2015, *''B. Come Basta!'' Facts and misdeeds, disasters and lies, laws shame and crimes (without punishment) of the mistress of the state who wants to buy back Italy for the fourth time. Roma, PaperFirst, 2018.

References

External links

''Il Fatto Quotidiano''
Independent journal of which Travaglio is the director
Voglio scendere
Blog by Travaglio and fellow journalists and authors Pino Corrias and Peter Gomez
L'Antefatto
Official website of Travaglio's independent newspaper, ''Il Fatto Quotidiano''
Unofficial Fan site featuring a column and some other contributions by Travaglio not published elsewhere

Interview with Marco Travaglio
* ''

la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...

''
the controversial interview with Travaglio by Luttazzi
*
Signornò
' and
Carta-Canta
' columns on

L'Espresso ''L'Espresso'' () is an Italian weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is '' Panorama''. Since 2022 it has been published by BFC Media. History and profile One of Italy's foremost newsmagazines, ' ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Travaglio, Marco 1964 births Living people Journalists from Turin Italian Roman Catholics Italian columnists Italian male writers University of Turin alumni Italian newspaper editors Italian male journalists La Repubblica people