(; ) is an Italian

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remained unchanged since its first edition in 1876. It reached a circulation of over 1 million under editor and co-owner

Luigi Albertini Luigi Albertini (19 October 1871 – 29 December 1941) was an influential Italian newspaper editor, member of the Italian Parliament, and historian of the First World War. As editor of one of Italy's best-known newspapers, of Milan, he was a cha ...

between 1900 and 1925. He was a strong opponent of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

clericalism Clericalism is the application of the formal, church-based leadership or opinion of ordained clergy in matters of the church or in broader political and sociocultural contexts. The journalist has stated that clericalism was not part of the Gospe ...

, and

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the prime minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

, who was willing to compromise with those forces during his time as

prime minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

. Albertini's opposition to the

Italian fascist Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

regime forced the other co-owners to oust him in 1925. A representative of the

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...

bourgeoisie, has always been generally considered

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

-leaning, hosting in its columns liberal and democratic Catholic views. In the 21st century, its main competitors are

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

's and

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

's . Until the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the country underwent a nationalization process, and were not real national daily newspapers, as their geographical area of circulation was mostly limited to

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

for and

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

for ; thus, both papers shared a readership that was linked to its place of residence and its social class, mostly from the industrialist class and financial circles. is considered the Italian national

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large newspaper circulation, circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and i ...

. is the "major daily" and one of the main national newspapers in Italy, alongside , , , and .

History and profile

was first published on Sunday, 5 March 1876, by . In 1899, the paper began to offer a weekly illustrated supplement, ''

La Domenica del Corriere ''La Domenica del Corriere'' (''The Sunday Courier'') was an Italian weekly newspaper which ran from 1899 to 1989. It came out every Sunday free with ''Corriere della Sera'', but was also sold separately. It was famous for its cover drawings, and ...

'' ("Sunday of the Courier"). In the 1910s and 1920s, under the direction of

, became the most widely read newspaper in Italy, maintaining its importance and influence into the present century. It was that introduced

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

in Italy in 1908 through a supplement for children, namely ''

Corriere dei Piccoli The ''Corriere dei Piccoli'' (Italian for "Courier of the Little Ones"), later nicknamed ''Corrierino'' ("Little Courier"), was a weekly magazine for children published in Italy from 1908 to 1995. It was the first Italian periodical to make a re ...

'' ("Courier of the Little Ones"). The newspaper's headquarters has been in the same buildings since the beginning of the 20th century, and therefore it is popularly known as "the Via Solferino newspaper", after the street where it is still located. As the name indicates, it was originally an

evening paper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

. During the

Fascist regime in Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

, funded the Mussolini Prize, which was awarded to the writers

Ada Negri Ada Negri (3 February 187011 January 1945) was an Italian poet and writer. She was the only woman to be admitted to the Academy of Italy. Biography Ada Negri was born in Lodi, Italy on 3 February 1870. Her father, Giuseppe Negri, was a coachm ...

and

Emilio Cecchi Emilio Cecchi (14 July 1884 – 5 September 1966) was an Italian Literary criticism, literary critic, Art criticism, art critic and screenwriter. One English language source describes him as "an 'official' - although radically anti-academic - in ...

, among the others. Mario Borsa, a

militant anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

, was appointed the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of in May 1945; the next year, the paper was relaunched as ''Il Nuovo Corriere della Sera'', a name that it kept until 1959, to distance itself from its support of Fascism. Borsa was fired because of his political leanings in August 1946 and was replaced by Guglielmo Emanuel, a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

journalist. Emanuel served in the post until 1952. In the 1950s, was the organ of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

establishment in Italy and was strongly

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

and pro-

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. The paper was functional in shaping the views of the Italian upper and middle classes during this period. The owners of the , the Crespi family, sold a share to the

RCS MediaGroup RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. (formerly Rizzoli Editore and Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera), based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, ra ...

in the 1960s and was listed in the

Italian stock exchange Borsa Italiana () or Borsa di Milano (), based in Milan at Palazzo Mezzanotte, Mezzanotte Palace, is the Italy, Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and i ...

. Its main shareholders were

Mediobanca Mediobanca S.p.A. is an Italian investment bank founded in 1946 at the initiative of Raffaele Mattioli (at that time CEO of Banca Commerciale Italiana) and Enrico Cuccia to facilitate the post-World War II reconstruction of Italian industry. Cu ...

, the

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

group, and some of the biggest industrial and financial groups in Italy. In 1974, the RCS Media moved on to control the majority of the paper.

The 1980s and 1990s

During the early 1980s, Alberto Cavallari was the editor-in-chief of the paper. In 1981, the newspaper was laterally involved in the Propaganda Due scandal when it was discovered that the secret

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

lodge had the newspaper's editor Franco Di Bella and the former owner

Angelo Rizzoli Angelo Rizzoli, OML (; 31 October 1889 – 24 September 1970) was an Italian publisher and film producer. Early life Rizzoli was born in Milan on 31 October 1889. Orphaned at a young age and raised in poverty, he rose to prosperity. He appren ...

on its member lists. In September 1987, the paper launched the weekly magazine supplement '' Sette'', which is the first in its category in Italy. From 1987 to 1992, the editor-in-chief of was Ugo Stille. The 1988 circulation of was 715,000 copies, making it the second most read newspaper in Italy. The paper started its Saturday supplement, ''

IO Donna ''IO Donna'' () is a weekly women's magazine and Saturday supplement of the Italian daily newspaper ''Corriere della Sera''. The magazine is the first supplement of a daily which focuses on women readers. It has been in circulation since 1996 and ...

'', in 1996. In 1997, was the best-selling Italian newspaper with a circulation of 687,000 copies.

The 21st century

had a circulation of 715,000 copies in 2001. In 2002, it fell to 681,000 copies. In 2003, its then editor Ferruccio de Bortoli resigned from the post. The journalists and opposition politicians stated that the resignation was due to the paper's criticism of

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

. In 2004, launched an online English section focusing on Italian current affairs and culture. That same year, it was the best-selling newspaper in Italy with a circulation of 677,542 copies. In May 2007, the paper's website was listed 15th among the top 30 brands of the month in Italy, with over 4 million unique visitors, and behind only among daily newspapers; during the same month, the paper had sold about 594,000 copies compared to the circa 566,000 copies of '. Its circulation in December 2007 was 662,253 copies; excluding digital copies, its circulation in December 2013 was 99,145 copies. By 2015, the paper had the country's highest circulation at about 308,000 copies. One of the most visited Italian-language news websites, attracting over 2.4 million readers every day in July 2019, the online version of the paper was the thirteenth most visited website in the country in 2011. In 2004, categorized as an institution daily (), alongside , in contrast to the agenda daily () like , and the activist daily () like , , and . On 24 September 2014, changed its

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

format to the

Berliner Berliner is most often used to designate a citizen of Berlin, Germany Berliner may also refer to: People * Berliner (surname) Places * Berliner Lake, a lake in Minnesota, United States * Berliner Philharmonie, concert hall in Berlin, Germany ...

format. On 7 March 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...

, leaked a draft decree to put into lockdown several northern provinces particularly affected by the virus. The leaked news sparked a panic exodus to the south, and the threat of further contagion led to

COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy On 9 March 2020, the government of Italy under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed a national lockdown or quarantine, restricting the movement of the population except for necessity, work, and health circumstances, in response to the growin ...

Content and sections

''Terza pagina'' ("Third Page"), a one page-survey dedicated to culture, used to feature the main article "Elzeviro" (named after the

House of Elzevir Elzevir is the name of a family of Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain the tallest ...

font originally used), which over the years published contributions from all the editors, as well as major novelists, poets, and journalists. On Monday, ''Corriere della Sera'' is published alongside ''L'Economia'' ("The Economy"), a weekly finance and business magazine. On Thursday, it is published with ''Sette'' ("Seven"), a current events magazine. On Sunday, it is published along with ''la Lettura'' ("The Reading"), a weekly literary supplement.

Contributors past and present

The Italian novelist

Dino Buzzati Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for ''Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel '' The Tartar St ...

was a journalist at the . Other notable contributors include Adolfo Battaglia,

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator. In 1975, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 'for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has ...

Curzio Malaparte Curzio Malaparte (; born Kurt Erich Suckert; 9 June 1898 – 19 July 1957) was an Italian writer, filmmaker, war correspondent and diplomat. Malaparte is best known outside Italy due to his works '' Kaputt'' (1944) and '' The Skin'' (1949). The ...

, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Enzo Bettiza,

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, ; ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian novelist and short story writer. His best-known works include the ''Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the '' Cosm ...

Alberto Moravia Alberto Pincherle (; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990), known by his pseudonym Alberto Moravia ( , ), was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia i ...

Amos Oz Amos Oz (; born Amos Klausner (); 4 May 1939 – 28 December 2018) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a pro ...

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

, Guido Piovene,

Giovanni Spadolini Giovanni Spadolini (; 21 June 1925 – 4 August 1994) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as the 44th prime minister of Italy. He had been a leading figure in the Republican Party and the first head of a government to not be ...

Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for h ...

, Alessandra Farkas,

Lando Ferretti Lando Ferretti (2 May 1895 in Pontedera, Province of Pisa – 8 January 1977 in Rome) was an Italian journalist, politician and sports administrator. Journalism After studying law and letters at the University of Pisa Ferretti became a journali ...

, Brunella Gasperini,

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 screenpl ...

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 volunteer ...

Giovanni Sartori Giovanni Sartori (; 13 May 1924 – 4 April 2017) was an Italian political scientist who specialized in the study of democracy, political parties, and comparative politics. He held faculty positions at University of Florence, European University ...

Paolo Brera Paolo Alberto Brera (16 September 1949 – 21 February 2019) was an Italian economist, academic, journalist, multilingual translator and novelist. Biography Brera was born in Milan, the third son of journalist and writer Gianni Brera and teache ...

Francesco Alberoni Francesco Alberoni (31 December 1929 – 14 August 2023) was an Italian journalist and a professor of sociology. He was a board member and senior board member (chairman) of RAI, the Italian state television network, from 2002 to 2005. Alberoni ...

Tracy Chevalier Tracy Rose Chevalier (born 19 October 1962) is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'', which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. Personal backgroun ...

Goffredo Parise Goffredo Parise (8 December 1929 in Vicenza – 31 August 1986 in Treviso) was an Italian writer, journalist, and screenwriter. He won the Viareggio Prize in 1965 for his novel ''Il padrone'' ''(The Boss)'' and the Strega Prize in 1982 for ''S ...

, Sergio Romano, Sandro Paternostro, Arturo Quintavalle,

Roberto Gervaso Roberto Gervaso (9 July 1937 – 2 June 2020) was an Italian writer and journalist. He won the Premio Bancarella twice: for ''L'Italia dei Comuni'' in 1967, and for ''Cagliostro'' in 1973. Gervaso was born in Turin where he grew up. He started ...

, Alan Friedman, Tommaso Landolfi, Alberto Ronchey,

Maria Grazia Cutuli Maria Grazia Cutuli (26 October 1962 – 19 November 2001) was an Italian journalist who worked as a reporter with the daily newspaper ''Corriere della Sera''. She was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan where she was covering the US ...

Camilla Cederna Camilla Cederna (21 January 1911 – 5 November 1997) was an Italian writer and editor. She is said to have introduced investigative journalism to the Italian news media. Some sources give her year of birth as 1921. Cederna was born and grew ...

, Marida Lombardo Pijola, and

Paolo Mieli Paolo Mieli (born 25 February 1949) is an Italian journalist who has been editor of Italy's leading newspaper, ''Corriere della Sera''. Born in Milan, Mieli debuted as journalist at 18 for ''L'Espresso'', where he remained for some 20 years. As ...

. Editors * Luciano Fontana (editor-in-chief) * Barbara Stefanelli (vice editor-in-chief) * Massimo Gramellini (deputy editor ''wikt:ad personam, ad personam'') * Federico Fubini (deputy editor ''ad personam'') * Daniele Manca (deputy editor) * Venanzio Postiglione (deputy editor) * Giampaolo Tucci (deputy editor) Columnist and journalists * Alberto Alesina (columnist) * Pierluigi Battista (journalist) * Giovanni Bianconi (journalist), Giovanni Bianconi (journalist) * Francesca Bonazzoli (journalist) * Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti (journalist) * Ian Bremmer (columnist) * Goffredo Buccini (journalist) * Sabino Cassese (columnist) * Aldo Cazzullo (journalist) * Benedetta Cosmi (corsivista) * Lorenzo Cremonesi (journalist) * Ferruccio de Bortoli (columnist, former editor-in-chief) * Dario Di Vico (journalist) * Michele Farina (journalist) * Luigi Ferrarella (journalist) * Antonio Ferrari (journalist) * Massimo Franco (journalist) * Davide Frattini (Jerusalem correspondent) * Milena Gabanelli (journalist) * Massimo Gaggi (New York correspondent) * Ernesto Galli della Loggia (columnist) * Mario Gerevini (journalist) * Francesco Giavazzi (columnist) * Aldo Grasso (columnist) * Marco Imarisio (journalist) * Luigi Ippolito (London correspondent) * Paolo Lepri (journalist) * Claudio Magris (columnist) * Dacia Maraini (columnist) * Viviana Mazza (journalist) * Paolo Mereghetti (columnist) *

(columnist, former editor-in-chief) * Stefano Montefiori (Paris correspondent) * Guido Olimpio (journalist) * Angelo Panebianco (columnist) * Mario Pappagallo (columnist) * Magda Poli (journalist) * Antonio Polito (columnist) * Maurizio Porro (journalist) * Sergio Romano (columnist) * Arianna Ravelli (journalist) * Nicola Saldutti (journalist) * Guido Santevecchi (Beijing correspondent) * Giuseppe Sarcina (Washington correspondent) * Fiorenza Sarzanini (journalist) * Beppe Severgnini (journalist) * Lina Sotis (columnist) * Gian Antonio Stella (journalist) * Danilo Taino (journalist) * Paolo Valentino (Berlin correspondent) * Chiara Vanzetto (journalist) * Franco Venturini (columnist) * Francesco Verderami (journalist) * Vincenzo Buonassisi (journalist)

Supplements

* ''L'Economia'' (on Monday) * ''Buone Notizie'' (on Tuesday) * ''ViviMilano'' (on Wednesday, only in the province of Milan) * '' Sette'' (on Thursday) * ''Liberi Tutti'' (on Friday) * ''

'' (on Saturday) * ''La Lettura'' (on Sunday) * '' Style'' (monthly) * ''Corriere Innovazione'' (monthly)

Local editions

* '' Brescia'' (in the province of Brescia) * '' Bergamo'' (in the province of Bergamo) * '' Milano'' (in the province of Milan) * '' Roma'' (in the province of Rome) * '' Torino'' (in the province of Turin) * ''Corriere di Verona'' (in the province of Verona) * ''Corriere del Veneto'' (in Veneto) * ''Corriere del Trentino'' (in Trentino) * ''Corriere dell'Alto Adige'' (in South Tyrol) * ''Corriere di Bologna'' (in the province of Bologna) * ''Corriere Fiorentino'' (in Tuscany) * ''Corriere del Mezzogiorno'' (in Apulia, Campania, and Basilicata)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corriere della Sera 1876 establishments in Italy Daily newspapers published in Italy Italian-language newspapers Italian news websites Liberalism in Italy Liberal media Newspapers established in 1876 Newspapers published in Milan RCS MediaGroup newspapers