Agenzia Stefani was the leading
press agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...
in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
from the mid-19th century until the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. It was founded by
Guglielmo Stefani on 26 January 1853 in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...
, and was closed on 29 April 1945 in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
.
History
The beginning
''Telegrafia privata – Agenzia Stefani'' (Private Telegraph – Stefani Agency) was created on January 26, 1853, in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...
by
Guglielmo Stefani, who was of Venetian origin and was the director of the newspaper ''Gazzetta Piemontese'', with support from
Camillo Cavour
Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (, 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour ( , ), was an Italian politician, businessman, economist and noble, and a leading figure in the movement towa ...
.
Under the Cavour government, the agency gained huge advantages through the granting of secret funds while the
Statuto Albertino banned privileges and private monopolies. The radical press, meanwhile, suffered from restrictions on freedom of information. As well, Agenzia Stefani, being in a monopoly situation, became a government tool for media control of the
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
.
After the death of Guglielmo Stefani, in 1861, the agency resurrected its collaboration with British agency
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
and French agency Agence France-Presse (
Havas
Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...
). It was this, the world's first news agency, that acquired 50% of Agenzia Stefani in 1865.
As an unofficial government agency, the "Stefani" followed different transfers of Italian capital cities, from Turin to
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
in 1865, then to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1871
Under the direction of Friedländer
In 1881,
Hector Friedländer took control and kept it for 37 years. Under his direction, the agency remained close to the government, contributing strongly to blunting the opinions of the press towards the controversial events of the era, such as
Battle of Adwa
The Battle of Adwa (; ti, ውግእ ዓድዋ; , also spelled ''Adowa'') was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian forces defeated the Italian invading force on Sunday 1 March 1896, near the town of Adwa. The de ...
(1896),
Bava-Beccaris massacre
The Bava Beccaris massacre, named after the Italian General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris, was the repression of widespread food riots in Milan, Italy, on 6–10 May 1898. In Italy the suppression of these demonstrations is also known as ''Fatti di Mag ...
(1898), the assassination of
Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
(1900),
Italo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...
(1911-1912) and the casual changes in international alliances preceding the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
In 1888, Agenzia Stefani was key to Italy's diplomatic strategies; the Triple Alliance ''potenziamento'', coordinated by Prime Minister
Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi (4 October 1818 – 11 August 1901) was an italy, Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the arc ...
, tried to separate Agenzia Stefani from French influence (by then it was 50%-owned by the French news agency
Havas
Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...
) in favour of an alliance with
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
n and
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
agencies. London, Berlin, and Vienna were involved in negotiations. Crispi wrote, "Stefani is entirely in our hands and benefits morally and materially from the government".
During the course of the 1890s,
Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi (4 October 1818 – 11 August 1901) was an italy, Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the arc ...
was a promoter of a break with
Havas
Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...
, accused of publishing false and biased news, to encourage the foreign policy of France. A mutual exchange agreement was signed with the German
Continentalen, with the Austrian
Correspondenz-Office and
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
, to allow governments to control and censor, if necessary, the news from, and for, abroad.
Throughout the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Agenzia Stefani received exclusive access to the diffusion of the dispatches of army staff, and 1920, an agreement was reached with the Giolitti government, which assigned the task of disseminating government information to the press prefects and government offices. Pursuant to the agreement, the appointment of the director and the major foreign correspondents were subject to government approval. The following year a new agreement with Havas granted it access to information from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
, thanks to cable connections created between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
.
Management under Morgagni
After the rise of
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...
,
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
grasped the potential usefulness of such a tool and on April 8, 1924, he placed Agenzia Stefani under the control of the
sansepolcriste,
Manlio Morgagni who, in a short time, transformed the voice of the government within Italy as well as abroad.
In 1924, it had 14 bureaus in Italy, with 160 correspondents in Italy and 12 abroad, who succeeded daily at "working" an average of 165 incoming dispatches and 175 outgoing. Under Morgagni's direction, the agency underwent important development, to the extent that in 1939 there were 32 Italian bureaus and 16 others abroad, with 261 correspondents in Italy and 65 abroad, who every day processed an average of 1270 incoming dispatches and 1215 outgoing.
Following the arrest of Mussolini on July 26, 1943, Manlio Morgagni committed suicide.
The RSI and ANSA
With the creation of the
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
, the State took ownership of Agenzia Stefani and its headquarters was moved to
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
, and placed under the direction of
Luigi Barzini senior. Its last director,
Ernesto Daquanno, was shot at
Dongo with the dignitaries accompanying Mussolini.
Dissolved on April 29, 1945, the technical structure and its organization were transferred to the new
ANSA
Ansa (Latin for " handle") or ANSA may refer to:
Organizations
* Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency
** Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above
* Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia
* Association of Nor ...
.
See also
*
History of newspapers and magazines#Italy
*
History of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
This articles covers the history of Italy as a monarchy and in the World Wars.
Italian unification (1738–1870)
Modern Italy became a nation-state during the Risorgimento on March 17, 1861, when most of the states of the Italian Peninsula a ...
*
News agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...
Bibliography
* Smith, Denis Mack. ''Mazzini'' (Yale U. Press, 1996
excerpt* Manlio Morgagni "L'agenzia Stefani nella vita nazionale" (1931) éd. Alfieri e Lacroix, Milan
* Sergio Lepri "Informazione e potere in un secolo di storia italiana. L'Agenzia Stefani da Cavour a Mussolini" (2001) éd. Le Monnier, Florence,
* Romano Canosa "La voce del Duce. L'agenzia Stefani: l'arma segerta di Mussolini" (2002) éd. Mondadori, Milan
* Gigi Di Fiore "Controstoria dell'unità d'Italia: fatti e misfatti del Risorgimento" (2007) éd. Rizzoli, Milan
References
{{Authority control
History of journalism
History of mass media
1853 establishments in Italy
Italy in World War I
Italy in World War II
News agencies based in Italy
Censorship in Italy
Mass media in Turin
Mass media in Milan