Test your knowledge of Italian current events and politics: the Italian state-owned television station RAI Uno is controlled by the 1) Christian Democratic Party; 2) center-right majority; or 3) Alleanza Nazionale. The Italian pasta producer Buitoni made an offer for SME (the genesis for the controversial corruption trial of Cesare Previti and Silvio Berlusconi still in Italian courts) in what year? True or false: the Italian Democratic Socialist party (SDI) is center-right. The national statistics institute ISTAT projected an inflation rate of how much in 2003?
If you answered center-right majority, 1985, false (the Italian Democratic Socialist party are center-left socialists), and 2.8% you've probably been reading the Italian Press Digest, which recently reported on all these stories.
This Just In
The Italian Press Digest is an independent, non-partisan report on Italian politics and current affairs. The Digest keeps track of the political trends of the Italian government, the upper and lower houses of Parliament, and both majority and minority political parties. Each weekday subscribers receive an electronic newsletter in their inbox. Each issue offers a broad view of the day’s most significant developments in Italian government, domestic policy, and economic policy and trends.
The Italian Press Digest also provides detailed analysis of politicians, parties and current issues to help understand the workings of one of Europe’s most complex political scenes. A recent issue detailed the positions of the major political parties in the Italian Parliament during the Iraq war. The official party line of Forza Italia (FI), Alleanza Nazionale (AN), Northern League, Democratici di Sinistra (DS), Margherita, UDEUR, and Rifondazione Comunista (RC) were all included along with an analysis of the probable vote outcome in a critical debate.
Uno, Due, Tre
Besides daily updates, the Italian Press Digest has other features that provide insight into Italian politics, culture, economy, and finances. Background Info sidebars offer an explanation of complex or arcane issues. During the controversy involving RAI's refusal to broadcast live reports of an anti-war march, the Digest explained why Italy's public broadcaster is so important and which political parties control the various stations (for those keeping score, RAI Uno is currently controlled by the center right majority, RAI Due is under the influence of federalist Northern League and rightist Alleanza Nazione, and RAI Tre programming is controlled by the opposition.).
Special Reports are a series of concise, exhaustive white papers on Italy's current political and economic issues, as well as on her institutions and Establishment. Each report typically contains between 3,000 and 15,000 words and is loaded with information that is not readily available elsewhere in English. Past topics have covered the Italian electoral system, a profile of President Ciampi, the Amato government, and the D'Alema government. News Alerts from the Italian Press Digest are also issued on occasion to alert readers of important late-breaking news.
No Italian Required
Fo diplomatic corps stationed in Italy, and journalists, businessmen, political analysts, and academics worldwide, the Italian Press Digest offers tremendous insight into Italian politics and valuable background information, unavailable elsewhere in English, on a variety of topics. Directed at a professional audience, the succinct, precise, and timely newsletter distills pages and pages of information into two or three pages total, offering a broad view of the day’s most significant developments.
