Enzo Biagi
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and writer.
Biography
Biagi was born in Lizzano in BelvedereLizzano in Belvedere
Lizzano in Belvedere is a comune in the Province of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 50 km southwest of Bologna.-External links:*...
, and began his career as a journalist in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. Active in journalism for six decades and author of some eighty books, Biagi won numerous awards, among which the 1979 Saint Vincent prize and the 1985 Ischia International Journalism Award
Ischia International Journalism Award
The Ischia International Journalism Award is one of the most important Italian journalism awards. It is organized under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, the Regione Campania, the Province of Naples, the National Federation of the Italian Press and the Order of...
. In 1987, he won the Premio Bancarella
Premio Bancarella
The Premio Bancarella is an Italian literary prize established in 1953; it is given in Pontremoli every year, the last Saturday or the last Sunday in July....
, for his book Il boss è solo, interviewing former Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta was a Sicilian mafioso. Although he was not the first pentito in the Italian witness protection program, he is widely recognized as the first important one breaking omertà...
, who had turned pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
(state witness). He worked on the Italian national TV channel Rai Uno
Rai Uno
Rai 1 is the primary television station of RAI, the national public service broadcaster, and the most watched television channel in Italy. It was born as Rai Tv from 1954 to 1961, called Programma Nazionale from 1961 to 1979, after called Rete 1 from 1979 to 1982, then called Rai Uno from 1982 to...
until 2001.
On May 9, 2001, just two days before the general elections in Italy, during his daily prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
10-minute TV show Il Fatto, broadcast on Rai Uno, Biagi interviewed the popular actor and director Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television.- Early years :...
, who gave a hilarious talk about Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
declaring his preference for the other candidate, Francesco Rutelli from the Olive Tree
Olive Tree
The Olive Tree was a denomination used for several successive centre-left Italian political coalitions from 1995 to 2007.The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi, Professor of Economics and former leftist Christian Democrat, who invented the name and the symbol of...
coalition.
Biagi disappeared from TV screens a few months after Berlusconi's declarations
Editto Bulgaro
The Editto Bulgaro , also going under the name of "the Bulgarian Ukase" in Italian newspapers, was a statement of Silvio Berlusconi, at the time Prime Minister of Italy, about the behavior of some journalists and television stars in the Italian media system, which was pronounced during a press...
in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
named also Editto Bulgaro
Editto Bulgaro
The Editto Bulgaro , also going under the name of "the Bulgarian Ukase" in Italian newspapers, was a statement of Silvio Berlusconi, at the time Prime Minister of Italy, about the behavior of some journalists and television stars in the Italian media system, which was pronounced during a press...
, where the then-Prime Minister
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
accused the popular journalist, together with fellow journalist Michele Santoro
Michele Santoro
Michele Santoro is an Italian journalist, anchorman, television host and presenter.He also served till October 2005 as Member of the European Parliament for Southern Italy with the Olive Tree, part of the Socialist Group and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice...
and showman/comedian Daniele Luttazzi
Daniele Luttazzi
Daniele Luttazzi , real name Daniele Fabbri, is an Italian theater actor, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer/songwriter. His stage name is a homage to musician and actor Lelio Luttazzi...
, of having made criminal use of the public television service.
Biagi's defenders argue that a public service should provide pluralism, and that a country where government prevents
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
opposing ideas from being voiced on air is a régime
Regime
The word regime refers to a set of conditions, most often of a political nature.-Politics:...
.
The issue of Berlusconi's motives for entering politics in the first place emerged in an interview that he gave with Biagi and Indro Montanelli
Indro Montanelli
Indro Montanelli was an Italian journalist and historian, known for his new approach to writing history in books such as History of the Greeks and History of Rome....
, stating "If I don't enter politics, I will go to jail and become bankrupt."
On April 22, 2007, 86-year-old Enzo Biagi made his TV comeback on the RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
with RT - Rotocalco Televisivo, a current affairs show which is broadcast on Raitre. At the opening of the show, he declared:
Until shortly before his death he was also a columnist for the daily Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
, which he had worked for since the early 1970s.