Dietlinde "Lilli" Gruber (born 19 April 1957) is an Italian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Currently a talk show host for Italian private television channel La7, Gruber also served as

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 2004 to September 2008 with the

Olive Tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

centre-left coalition.

Biography

Early career and resignation from RAI

Gruber was born in

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

and is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Italian native speaker. She attended the foreign languages and literature course at the University of Venice. In 1982 Gruber started her journalism career and in 1987 became the anchor of

TG1 ''TG1'' (''Telegiornale 1'') is the flagship television newscast produced by Rai 1, the main channel of state-owned Italian public broadcaster RAI. It is the longest running program in the history of television in Italy as it has been broadcast ...

, the main television news program on

Rai Uno Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and general ...

. In 1988, she became political correspondent for RAI, covering events such as the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

, the war in the former Yugoslavia, the situation in 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i war. In 1999, in addition to her TV career in Italy, she also worked with the German TV broadcasters such as

SWF SWF ( ) is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript.Open Screen Pr ...

(1988) and Pro 7 (1996). In April 2004, Gruber resigned from her position at RAI in protest against the influence on state controlled media by Prime Minister

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 ...

. She attacked his "unresolved conflict of interest", and considered that RAI had abandoned its tradition of

pluralism Pluralism denotes a diversity of views or stands rather than a single approach or method. Pluralism or pluralist may refer to: Politics and law * Pluralism (political philosophy), the acknowledgement of a diversity of political systems * Plur ...

in order to support the government's views. Gruber has also worked for the Italian newspaper ''

La Stampa ''La Stampa'' (meaning ''The Press'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin, Italy. It is distributed in Italy and other European nations. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. History and profile The paper was fou ...

'', for "Io Donna", ''

TV Sorrisi e Canzoni ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' (''TV Smiles and Songs'') is an Italian weekly listings magazine published in Segrate, Italy. History and profile ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' was established in 1952. Based in Segrate, Milan, the magazine is published by ...

'' and ''Anna''.

Member of European Parliament

In the European Parliament elections of 2004 she ran as an independent candidate for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

under the centre-left

ticket; her candidacy was proposed, together with Michele Santoro, after she was pushed out of

-controlled RAI. She topped the Olive Tree votes in two electoral regions, and beat Berlusconi himself in the Central region vote. After election, she joined the

Socialist Group The Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group (french: Groupe Socialiste, SOC) is a primarily social-democratic political grouping in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was known as the Socialist Group prior to August 2017. The g ...

. Gruber served in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and as an alternate on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States, including

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. She resigned from her position in September 2008, months before the natural completion of her mandate, to return to her previous journalism career.

Back into national TV

After her resignation from European Parliament, in 2008 Gruber accepted an offer from private TV channel La7, where she took charge of the long-running political talk show ''Otto e mezzo''.

Bilderberg invitation

She was included in the guest list of Bilderberg Group 2012 edition, at Chantilly, Virginia, as Journalist/Anchorwoman, and was the only journalist allowed at the 2013 meeting in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England.

Education

* 1993: 'William Benton Fellowship for Broadcasting

Journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s' at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

* 2002: 'Visiting scholar' at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

; for two years 'discussion leader' at the World Economic Forum of Davos

Awards and honours

* 1991: "Numeri UNO" Prize * 1995: Best Female Journalist * 1995: Carlo Schmidt Preis, Germany, for distinguished service to freedom of information * 1995: Fregene prize * 2001: Spoleto prize * For covering the war in

, '' inter alia'' * 2004: Honorary graduate of the

American University of Rome The American University of Rome (commonly referred to as AUR) is a degree-granting American university in Rome, Italy. AUR is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in the United States and is recognized by the Italian Min ...

Works

* ''Quei giorni a Berlino. Il crollo del Muro, l'agonia della Germania Est, il sogno della riunificazione: diario di una stagione che ha cambiato l'Europa'', con Paolo Borella, Torino, Nuova Eri edizioni RAI, 1990. .* ''I miei Giorni a Baghdad'' ("My Days in Baghdad", 2003) * ''L'altro Islam'' ("The Other Islam", 2004) * ''Chador'' (2005) * ''America anno zero'' ("America year zero", 2006) * ''Figlie dell'Islam'' (2007) * ''Streghe'' (2008) * ''Ritorno a Berlino'' (2009) * ''Eredità'' (2012) * ''Tempesta'' (2014) * ''Prigionieri dell'Islam. Terrorismo, migrazioni, integrazione: il triangolo che cambia la nostra vita'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2016.

References

External links

Lilli Gruber's Home Page
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruber, Lilli 1957 births Living people Writers from Bolzano Italian television journalists Germanophone Italian people Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs MEPs for Italy 2004–2009 21st-century women MEPs for Italy Italian women journalists Women television journalists Politicians from Bolzano