(English: "The Daily Fact") is an Italian daily newspaper founded in 2009 by journalists Marco Travaglio, Peter Gomez, Marco Lillo, Furio Colombo, Bruno Tinti, Cinzia Monteverdi and Antonio Padellaro. Padellaro served as editor-in-chief from the paper's founding until 3 February 2015, when he was succeeded by Marco Travaglio, previously deputy editor and co-editor. As of 2022 it has an average combined print and digital circulation of about 50,000 copies and an average readership of approximately 475,000.
History
Origins and founding In May 2008, journalist Marco Travaglio announced the creation of a new newspaper on his blog voglioscendere.it. From 28 June 2009, the website l'AnteFatto went live, keeping readers updated on the newspaper's development during a lengthy preparatory phase; according to the paper's first issue, the site reached roughly 3.5 million contacts within about three months, and an initial subscription campaign attracted around 30,000 readers.
The newspaper was first printed on Wednesday, 23 September 2009, under the title Il Fatto Quotidiano. The name was chosen in memory of journalist Enzo Biagi, host of the television programme Il Fatto, while the paper's logo — depicting a newsboy — was inspired by the newspaper La Voce, as a tribute to its founder Indro Montanelli. According to the paper's editors, by 8 a.m. copies had nearly sold out at newsstands nationwide, prompting a reprint in the following days as well as the release of a digital version of the issue.
In the paper's first editorial, titled "Linea politica, la Costituzione" ("Political line, the Constitution"), founding editor Antonio Padellaro laid out the newspaper's editorial stance: "They ask us: what will your political line be? We answer: the Constitution of the Republic." In the same editorial, Padellaro positioned the paper in opposition, stating: "To Berlusconi, certainly, because he has reduced a great democracy to a degrading sultanate. But we will make no allowances for the leaders of the Democratic Party and the fractured left, who in all these years have failed to build any real alternative."
From its earliest days, publisher Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A. stated its intention not to make use of public press subsidies, relying instead solely on advertising and sales revenue.Marco Travaglio, "Dichiarazione di intenti de 'il Fatto'", voglioscendere.it, 28 May 2009. To underline this, from the issue of Thursday 21 January 2010 the paper's masthead carried the phrase "Non riceve alcun finanziamento pubblico" ("Receives no public funding"). The paper did, however, continue to benefit from the reduced postal rates available by law to all Italian publishers for paper, digital services and distribution costs, until these were abolished in April 2010.
2010: corporate consolidation
Less than five months after launch, on 1 February 2010 the editorial offices moved from Via Orazio 10 to the larger, more modern premises at Via Valadier 42. Later that month, on 28 February 2010, the paper launched the satirical supplement Il Misfatto, headed initially by Roberto Corradi and, from 24 April 2011, by Stefano Disegni; the supplement ceased publication on 29 September 2013 after more than two years.
In March 2010, Telebavaglio ("Gag TV"), a nine-episode political commentary programme, was streamed live to circumvent the suspension of political talk shows on RAI during the March 2010 regional elections. It was hosted by staff journalists Stefano Feltri and Carlo Tecce and Silvia Truzzi, with cartoonists Mario Natangelo, Michele De Pirro and Luca Bertolotti.
On 22 June 2010 the newspaper's website was launched in beta, headed by Peter Gomez. Traffic was so heavy in the hours following launch that access had to be temporarily suspended on several occasions in the following days. On 25 September 2010, ilfattoquotidiano.it won the 2010 "Oscar" for Best Online News Outlet, awarded by the magazine Macchianera on the basis of a public online vote. The online edition's newsroom is based in Milan, at Viale Francesco Restelli 5, opposite the headquarters of the Lombardy Regional Government.
A new nine-episode run of Telebavaglio aired in late August 2010, distributed on the website and, on a delayed basis, on the satellite channel Current TV.
Fifteen months after launch, the company reported a profit in both 2009 and 2010; in 2010, revenue and profit totalled €29.6 million and €5.8 million respectively.
2011: the year of Annozero The year opened with the 20 January broadcast of Annozero on Rai Due, a programme closely associated with the newspaper.
A year after the satirical supplement's launch, the paper introduced a cultural supplement. From Friday 25 February 2011, the weekly eight-page insert Saturno, covering literature, science, the arts, multimedia, cinema and philosophy, was edited by Riccardo Chiaberge. It ceased publication on 2 March 2012 following Chiaberge's resignation.
From late July 2011, the newspaper produced the talk show È la stampa, bellezza! ("That's the press, baby!"), eight episodes streamed live on the paper's website and hosted by web-desk journalist David Perluigi.
On 20 September 2011, publisher Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A. unanimously approved a €350,000 capital increase in order to become a shareholder in Zerostudio's, the production company through which Michele Santoro produced his programme Servizio pubblico. On 1 October 2011, for the second consecutive year, ilfattoquotidiano.it won the Macchianera Oscar for Best Online News Outlet.
Following the formation of the Monti Cabinet in November 2011, the newspaper maintained a strongly oppositional line throughout its term, setting itself apart from most other Italian outlets, arguing the new parliamentary majority could not realistically enable meaningful reform, and repeatedly criticising the government's perceived ineffectiveness and unreliability.
2012–2014: expansion of the online edition
From 15 October 2012, the paper began publishing on Mondays as well. That same year, ilfattoquotidiano.it was named the best political-opinion website at the Macchianera BlogFest awards.
To support the online edition financially, from 3 May 2013 the paper introduced a "supporting user" subscription scheme, a lighter form of subscription letting readers propose and select investigative stories for the website to pursue. Partly as a result, in 2013 ilfattoquotidiano.it was named Best Italian Website of the Year at BlogFest.
From 8 May 2013, the newspaper began distributing a weekly four-page economic supplement, il Fatto economico, overseen by economics editor Stefano Feltri.
Following the start of the XVII Legislature of Italy in March 2013, the paper again positioned itself in opposition, a stance reinforced when deputy editor Marco Travaglio publicly stated he had voted for Antonio Ingroia's Rivoluzione Civile list for the Chamber of Deputies and for the Five Star Movement for the Senate in the 2013 Italian general election. 2015: leadership passes from Padellaro to Travaglio
2015 began with the bloody Charlie Hebdo shooting. In response, on 14 January 2015 the newspaper was distributed with a reprint of Charlie Hebdo issue No. 1178 attached.
That same day, editor Antonio Padellaro told the weekly magazine Panorama of his intention to leave the paper he had founded. On 3 February 2015, editorship of the newspaper officially passed to former deputy editor Marco Travaglio. Padellaro instead became chairman of the publishing company while continuing to write as a columnist.
On 5 February, Marco Travaglio published his first editorial as editor, confirming the paper would maintain the editorial line established under Padellaro, oriented toward respect for the Constitution of Italy and critical opposition.
2016: campaigning for "No" in the constitutional referendum In May 2016, television host Michele Santoro, through his majority-owned production company Zerostudio's, acquired a 7% stake in the newspaper. A committee of guarantors was also established, made up of Peter Gomez, Marco Lillo, Antonio Padellaro, Marco Travaglio and Santoro himself.
The newspaper campaigned openly against the 2016 Italian constitutional referendum of 4 December 2016, taking numerous initiatives: changing its Facebook profile picture to read "I vote No", promoting petitions against the reform, giving broad coverage to prominent supporters of the "No" campaign — from Dario Fo to constitutional scholar Gustavo Zagrebelsky — organising conferences on the subject, and inviting readers to share their reasons for voting against the reform. Santoro publicly criticised the paper's unconditional support for "No" in an interview with Il Foglio, hinting he might divest from the newspaper.
2017: the launch of Loft In February 2017 the paper moved offices for the third time in its history, relocating from the Prati district to its current headquarters at Via di Sant'Erasmo 2 in Rome; the web edition's newsroom, headed by Peter Gomez, remained in Milan at Via Francesco Restelli 5.
On 9 May 2017, Michele Santoro told Italia Oggi he would divest his shares in the newspaper, citing "political and cultural differences" with the paper that meant the two no longer collaborated on joint projects, including a planned television venture. He did not sell his shares immediately, remaining a 7% shareholder (through Zerostudio's) until a more favourable arrangement could be found. Chief executive Cinzia Monteverdi noted that a possible solution could involve a cross-compensation of shareholdings. On 20 July 2017, Santoro resigned from the committee of guarantors and sold Zerostudio's shares in the paper, ending all ties to the newspaper.
On 8 August 2017, columnist Bruno Tinti ended his collaboration with the paper to write for La Verità.
On 3 November 2017 the newspaper launched Loft, an online TV platform on which various Fatto journalists host their own news and entertainment programmes.
2018–2020 In May 2018, chief executive Cinzia Monteverdi succeeded Antonio Padellaro as chairman of the company.
On 19 November 2018, reporter Davide Vecchi left Il Fatto Quotidiano to become editor of Corriere dell'Umbria and its associated local editions.
In May 2020, Stefano Feltri left Il Fatto Quotidiano to become editor of Domani, a new newspaper published by Carlo De Benedetti. That same month, journalist Gad Lerner began contributing to the paper after ending his collaboration with la Repubblica.
2021 In 2021, Il Fatto Quotidiano launched the app PlayToday, an original game based on current affairs, politics and news, available on iOS 13.0+ and Android 8.0 Oreo+, built around four weekly games and also offering an in-app newspaper subscription.
On 30 July 2021, the board of directors of Società Editoriale il Fatto S.p.A. ("SEIF") approved the creation of the Fondazione Il Fatto Quotidiano, a foundation with a stated humanitarian purpose of strengthening social engagement, reducing inequality and fostering dialogue with civil society through solidarity-based projects.
2022 On 18 March 2022, Alessandro Orsini, who had recently resigned from Il Messaggero, became a contributor to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The newspaper's stance following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, seen by some critics as sympathetic to Putin, prompted columnist Furio Colombo to resign, returning to write for la Repubblica.
The paper's circulation declined during this period: in June 2021, average newsstand sales stood at 25,456 copies (51,383 total print and digital), falling to 23,201 copies (48,395 total) by June 2022.
2023–2024