Dolly the sheep, the first living cloned mammal, is born; François Mitterrand and Marcello Mastroianni die. Romano Prodi and the Ulivo party conquer Palazzo Chigi; Atlanta hosts the 26th Olympic Games. Some events from 1996, the year Il Foglio was founded. The first issue hits newsstands on January 30th and is the fruit of founder Giuliano Ferrara's desire to create an editorial project focused on analysis and in-depth analysis, open to contributions from diverse perspectives and sensibilities.
The journalists
The bylines are those of Pierluigi Battista, Carlo Rossella, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, and Adriano Sofri. Vincino is the author of the cartoons. The dawn of the history of the "foglio". Maurizio Crippa, one of the pioneers, recalled it in an interview. Late 1995. "It was winter, the Berlusconi I government had ended with Ferrara himself as minister, Italy was still in the ruins of Tangentopoli, the world in the ruins of the Berlin Wall. There were six or seven of us. Organized young unemployed people. We were summoned by Sergio Zuncheddu, a Sardinian entrepreneur, our first publisher. Giuliano Ferrara came in and said: 'I'm Giuliano Ferrara and I'm going to create Il Foglio.' Two zero issues, four meetings, and the newspaper was launched."
The birthday
The master of ceremonies for the paper's thirtieth anniversary celebration is current editor Claudio Cerasa, who has been at the helm since 2015: "From the end of January and throughout February, we will publish a past issue every day to retrace our history. We will have special covers designed for us by great artists, recollections of the paper's past, and other surprises we cannot reveal yet." Il Foglio intends to maintain the spirit of its origins: "We strive to report reality in an original way and cultivate unconventional ideas. The fight against all forms of extremism and the defense of freedom are in our DNA." Tomorrow, for readers of Unione Sarda, Il Foglio will be on newsstands for one euro.
The little elephant
Giuliano Ferrara's imprint remains, and his little elephant remains a highly visible seal. "The newspaper," Cerasa emphasizes, "is Giuliano's creation. Il Foglio was born from his ability to shape our minds and, above all, our curiosity, the foundation of everyday life, the imprint of all its contributors. We believe that a fact should not be observed superficially. It is necessary to understand if there is something more to tell, beyond appearances, to dismantle the "mainstream" narrative of certain events and offer a personal perspective. We do not hide our ideas because the best way to connect with readers is not to pretend to be neutral, but to always remember which side we are on."
How to defend yourself
"The challenges of the publishing world, which we too are dealing with," Cerasa reiterates, "can be addressed by disseminating quality content through all possible means. I'm thinking of our website and digital platforms. It's also important to continue pursuing an approach that prioritizes follower education, rather than the frenetic pursuit of likes, a hallmark of our editorial project." Il Foglio maintains strong ties with Sardinia: "The newspaper has a special relationship with Sergio Zuncheddu, now editor of the L'Unione Sarda group, who helped give impetus to our project in 1996. We have many readers on the island, and we believe that Sardinia is the symbol of what Italy should be, given its ability to face difficulties and moments of crisis with great determination."
Massimiliano Rais
