National Interest Project

Foreign Press, Italy's success stories

Third summary report

Analysis for the period July to November 2008

© This document is for the exclusive use of Aspen Institute Italia

Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for July to November 2008 (cont.)

Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – National Interest Project

Italy at a time of international crisis: September marks a turning point This summary aims to give an overview of the image of Italy and Italians portrayed by the major international newspapers in the last five months, from July to November 2008.

In contrast with the previous two foreign press summaries, which were issued quarterly, this summary covers a longer period with a view to providing a more accurate picture in the midst of a very complex international situation.

The emergence of the global economic crisis dominated headlines from September onwards, in the process transforming newspapers, setting new priorities and imposing different criteria for the selection of news items. Articles dealing with Italy were no exception to this rule.

In examining the coverage of Italy in the print media, one figure above all stands out: on a daily basis, the newspapers examined contained no more than four or five articles likely to bolster the image of Italy among international readers.

A comparison with the situation a year ago is telling. Back then, there were around twenty significant articles a day dealing with Italy, as if people around the world were more conscious of the country.

During the fall of 2008, however, all this changed. The economic situation led foreign readers to concentrate on their own national problems, more pressing in terms of their impact on everyday living conditions. Every newspaper thus reduced the pages dedicated to foreign affairs and culture, which were once brimful of items on Italy.

September marked the turning point. During the summer, interest on the part of international journalists had remained constant, thanks also to Italy’s natural touristic appeal. However, as the months passed, the tone changed.

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Since the beginning of the crisis, Italy has proven to be less susceptible to the financial collapses that have beset other countries. In particular, Italy’s main banking groups seem solid. On November 13, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung once again praised the “resilience to the crisis shown by Italian financial institutions”. The German article did not refrain from making some criticisms (stating that “Intesa San Paolo closed disappointingly last quarter” and that “Unicredit remains very exposed to Eastern European markets”), but on the whole its assessment was positive.

The absence of any sensational bankruptcies in Italy to coincide with the collapse of international (once deemed unsinkable) giants ended up penalizing the Italian economic system – at least in terms of media coverage. Italy’s financial affairs failed to generate any enthusiasm or excessive concern on the part of analysts and this had a detrimental impact on Italian small to medium-sized enterprises, who no longer received international media exposure they were used to.

Coverage in the leading French economics newspaper, Les Echos, highlighted this point. On October 28, its Milan correspondent praised “individual Italian businesses who, despite their small size, chronic undercapitalization and lack of internationalization incentives, have proven to be dynamic. Italian “tricolor” brands have even managed to sell their products into none-too-easy markets such as Russia and Asia”. The articles seemed like a show of confidence in Italian potential and led to hopes of favorable media coverage for the country, precisely because of its capacity to withstand the crisis. The following month, however, Italy literally disappeared from the economic pages north of the Alps. Les Echos, generally one of the most attentive newspapers to Italian affairs, published only five articles on Italy during the whole of November - and this is only one example.

Slightly more consoling, in this regard, was the number of articles dealing with leading Italian figures and Italian culture and places, though these pieces were marked by a change, with a fall in the coverage of exhibitions and fairs (which are feeling the effects of the recession) and an increase in features on cities and regions.

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Working methods of “Foreign Press, Italy's success stories” and articles chosen for consideration On a daily basis since April 1, 2007, the Aspen Institute Italia’s “Foreign Press, Italian success stories” section has monitored US, British, German, French, Spanish, Middle- Eastern, South African and Brazilian newspapers and English-language papers published in Russia, China, Japan and India (a list of the publications reviewed can be found at the end of this summary report).

Over the course of twenty months, over 5800 articles have been considered. These items have been divided into three topic areas: - “Italian Business”, relating to views on Italian companies and Italy’s economic policies; - “Italian Culture/Italian Life”, which relates to cultural, social, natural heritage and, hence, tourism aspects of the country; and - “People from Italy”, a section dedicated to stories featuring our fellow Italian citizens.

It was decided, however, not to take into account views in the foreign press of a strictly political nature. Over 1300 articles, selected on the basis of their relevance to the abovementioned topic areas, have so far been added to the publicly accessible section of the Aspen Institute Italia website (in both Italian and English).

Comments in the foreign press (less frequent after September 2008)

Over the last five months (which included a summer vacation period), the major fashion and designer labels have for the most part dominated stories on Italian businesses in foreign newspapers (such as, for instance, Le Monde of September 26 and The Australian of October 1), with their state of good health seeming not to deter analysts, in contrast with the impact such robustness has had on coverage of the Italian economy, as noted below.

In terms of internationalization, The New York Times of July 3, for instance, dedicated almost an entire page to the international success of Technogym, a producer of gym equipment. The commentator seemed almost incredulous to discover that the company, the second-largest global player in the sector, is not American and that it has succeeded in selling its products even in the United States – the main international fitness market. The

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Gambettola-based company has managed to sell the concept of “wellness as a necessary luxury” and has become a major label on par with some fashion houses and car brands. In short, it has exploited the characteristics that have always distinguished Made in Italy products, namely, a combination of skill and style.

Hence, what makes Italian products stand out abroad is a fusion of technological innovation and design, as highlighted in The Japan Times of July 7 in a three-page spread dedicated to the Italian economy. “If you invest in Italy, you should be aware that you are buying a piece of the Coliseum, a piece of “The Last Supper,” a piece of the Italian Renaissance”, explained the President of the Province of Milan, Filippo Penati, in an interview quoted in the article. Nevertheless, celebrated brands such as Ducati and Ferrarelle (expressly mentioned in the article) have for some time managed to win over customers on their own merits, without relying on the splendors of Italy’s past.

Tradition and innovation A brand which symbolizes the heights of the Florentine tradition of precision such as the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella (whose perfumes were praised in Le Figaro of July 29), is the product of skill, careful artisanship and quality control. Its beneficial impact on the local community is evident, starting with the establishment of a course at the University of Florence in perfumes and cosmetics.

However, not all Made in Italy products necessarily have a traditional flavor. One need only mention the Brescia-based Filartex (the International Herald Tribune of August 12), a company which is at the cutting edge of the manufacture of yarns made from alternative raw materials, such as corn and broom. “We cannot compete with China in terms of cost and bulk for basic [conventional fiber] products”, explained company co-founder Romano Bonadei. It is here that innovation comes in. In addition to the use of certain processing techniques that give a greater softness to yarns, Filartex has also created new fibers, basing its products not only on cotton, whose cultivation cycle is, in any case, considered to be particularly polluting, but also on milk processing methods, for instance, reviving scientific applications explored by Italian firms at the end of the 1930s under the banner of autarky and which were later abandoned once the war was over.

Also rooted in that period is the success of Officine Panerai (Le Figaro of July 17), once the

------5 For personal use only. This document is to be used exclusively for Aspen Institute Italia institutional purposes. Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for July to November 2008 (cont.) official supplier of watches and precision instruments to the Italian Navy, and, as far back as the 1940s, the manufacturer of devices capable of functioning at a depth of 200 meters. The brand, which was relaunched around ten years ago, now produces a few thousand watches a year and boasts a veritable community of enthusiasts (known as “Paneristi”) who exchange information on the internet and who are willing to spend tens of thousands of euro on a single model.

Similarly loyal communities of customers have enabled the relaunch of Guzzi (Le Monde of July 8) and Maserati (Le Figaro of July 4) and the expansion of Luxottica, which is set to open one hundred new stores in India (the Financial Times of November 5). Italian charm pervades the range of products at Tod’s according to The New York Times of October 30, but also, more generally, the style and experimentation of the Italian fashion labels presented by Ornella Bignami at Intertextile Shanghai 2008, one of the most important Chinese apparel trade events (Shanghai Daily of November 6).

Alfa Romeo has also made efforts to strengthen its brand by launching the new Alfa Romeo Brera S, a car in which the South African journalists of the Mail & Guardian recognized “all the charm and strength of great Italian soccer champions like Paolo Maldini, for instance” (November 7).

Foreign takeovers Italian business groups were quite active in the area of takeovers during this period. The most significant acquisition was that by designer Renzo Bosso’s holding company, Only the Brave, of the Dutch company Viktor&Rolf (The Independent of July 23), similar to its takeover of the Belgian company Maison Martin Margiela in 2002, relaunching its brand without undermining its identity.

Other foreign takeovers included that of the Padua-based iron and steel group Zen, specializing in the manufacture and assembly of cast iron and aluminum parts for the automobile sector, which bought the Lyon-based Rencast (Les Echos of July 22), of the Tuscan company Cartiera Luchese, which acquired the tissue division of the French company Novacare (Les Echos of October 6), and of an Italian consortium headed by Roman lawyer Angelo Massone, which bought the Scottish football team Livingston (The Times of July 30).

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The food industry The Italian food industry has also set its sights beyond Italy. The Rana Group, which last year took over Belgian competitor “Mamma Lucia”, now makes almost half its sales abroad. The International Herald Tribune of July 19 described how the idea of fresh pasta as a luxury and sought-after product, typical of the Italian lifestyle so highly-regarded by foreigners, has been sold to international customers. The basic strategy is to “send the Italian experience to new tables”.

A similar mission has been undertaken in the catering industry by the Fiera di Milano SpA, which recently concluded deals with the largest Chinese showrooms for the supply of Italian food to a standard befitting that description (the Suddeutsche Zeitung of July 22).

However, it seems to be much more difficult to control the quality of food products supplied directly to the large-scale retail sector. The Los Angeles Times of July 13 dealt with the issue of the counterfeiting of DOP and IGP-designated products in a detailed article, written with the help of several Italian food inspectors. Indeed, the fake food market is flourishing, with “Parmesan” produced in Lithuania, “Parmazano Fiorentino” made in Britain and “Parmezano” from Germany, to name just a few imitations of the celebrated Emilian cheese. “And it’s not just cheese. Hams too can be suspect. And basil. And vinegar”, the article went on to note.

Every European country has obtained a seal of quality for their typical food products, but it is particularly Italy, where the fine food industry is one of the most vibrant productive sectors, that needs to protect its interests. Indeed, the international market for DOP and IGP- designated Italian products is worth over 10 billion euro a year – and it would be worth even more if consumers were offered only genuine food products.

Tourism and art exhibitions The need for the print media to cover the European football championships and the Olympic Games in China reduced the leisure pages of newspapers, which are normally full of travel suggestions and articles on art exhibitions. Despite this, Italy still retained its preeminence in the major European papers for the number of articles, with a better result than traditional contenders such as France and Spain. Although there was a fall in the amount of coverage of

------7 For personal use only. This document is to be used exclusively for Aspen Institute Italia institutional purposes. Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for July to November 2008 (cont.) exhibitions put on in Italy, this was counterbalanced by articles on Italian artistic heritage exhibited abroad. Indeed, Le Monde of October 17 contained a story on a new exhibition at the Pompidou Center dedicated to Futurism and the works of Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla, and the October 30 edition focused on the exhibition at the Ecole des beaux- arts in Paris featuring drawings by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

In America, The New York Times of November 21 contained a two-page review of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum entitled “Art and Love in Renaissance Italy”, and the Los Angeles Times of November 9 reported on the comprehensive survey of the work of the Bolognese master Giorgio Morandi, again at the same museum in the Big Apple.

As regards tourist destinations, foreign journalists seem to be increasingly captivated by Italian regional landscapes and traditions. They set about rediscovering small areas and hidden places, with El Pais of November 4 featuring the Castello Svevo in Trani and Frederick II’s Sicily, while two weeks later (November 15) it explored the public squares of Arezzo, Anghiari and Tavernelle. Even more original was the report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of October 30 describing the natural parks of Emilia Romagna, where the wolves, now almost extinct, “are breathing new life into the natural environment, all to the benefit of tourists who are organizing unusual holidays in the outdoors”.

Never before as in the last five months have the Italian regions received such balanced coverage. The Independent newspaper in Britain featured famous destinations such as Capri (July 12) and Tuscany (July 13) but also the Calabrian coast (July 20), almost unknown to British readers. The International Herald Tribune focused on the islands, first reporting on Sicily through the eyes of The Leopard (July 9) and then on the Emerald Coast in Sardinia (August 21), The Guardian dedicated an entire page to the Abruzzi region (July 19), Le Figaro to Milan (August 5), whilst the financial paper The Wall Street Journal dedicated its travel pages to the Venice lagoon (July 25) and Lake Bolsena near Arezzo (August 14). The Germans, who demonstrated their continuing loyalty to the regions of the North by suggesting a trip through the small villages in the Dolomites (the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 6), also gave wide coverage to the South, including the ruins at Paestum (the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of July 17), the countryside in Molise (the Suddeutsche Zeitung of September 25), as well as the beaches of Pantelleria (the Handelsblatt of July 25) and Lampedusa (the Suddeutsche Zeitung of October 9).

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Light beyond the shadows The rubbish crisis in the region of Campania, which raised fears of a fall in hotel bookings, and the thorny and unresolved issue of organized crime, seem to have been forgotten and did not dominate press coverage of Italy as they did a year ago.

The writer Roberto Saviano and director Matteo Garrone continue to draw interest. Le Monde (of August 12) and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (of September 12) both reported on the filmmaker. At the end of June, Saviano wrote a long article on the Camorra for The Washington Post and, a month later (July 29), he was added by Le Figaro to a list of eight writers who had left their mark on world literature during the year 2007-2008.

Similar recognition was given by Le Monde (August 14) to the two authors of the book that had fought “Gomorrah” for the entire year to gain the top spot on the Italian bestseller lists, namely, “The Caste” by Sergio Rizzo and Gian Antonio Stella, in which two reporters from the Corriere della Sera exposed the corruption and privileges of the Italian political class.

The coverage of the top three Italian bestsellers of recent years was rounded off by a review of “I Kill” by crime-writer Giorgio Faletti in the International Herald Tribune of August 4. The article did not limit itself to acknowledging the merits of the author but also raised an interesting issue. The novel (of which five million copies have already been sold around the world in two dozen languages) was unable to find an American publisher willing to release it in the US, such that the Italian publisher Baldini&Castoldi decided to commission an English translation and distribute the book itself.

Famous Italians Clichéd images of Italy ensure that the standard-bearers of “Italianness” continue to be the same kind of people, namely: orchestra conductors, composers, designers and stylists. Hence, the tributes to absolute greats such as Claudio Abbado (Le Figaro of August 18), “whose charisma alone is sufficient to conduct an orchestra”, and Ennio Morricone, remembered and celebrated for his 80th birthday as “the man who with the simplest means reaches the greatest heights” (Die Welt of November 10). Significant accolades also went to Enzo Mari, a man “with an obsession for form and beauty” (the International Herald Tribune of November 3) and Elio Fiorucci (the Financial Times of July 12) and Giorgio

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Armani (L’Express of July 3 and El Pais of July 30), who have “won over the world with their style”. Special praise was also reserved for Roberto Saviano, described by El Pais on November 26 as “a writer against barbarity”, for his talk on “free speech and lawless violence” given with Salman Rushdie at the Royal Academy in Sweden. Newspapers around the world had already started talking of the writer again, fearing for his life after death threats were issued against him by Camorra clans (The Observer of October 5, Clarin of October 15, The Citizen, ABC and the Gulf News of October 16 and The Guardian of November 1, to mention the most notable reports).

There was also no shortage of profiles and interviews with leading Italian business figures, including Elio Leoni Sceti (Suddeutsche Zeitung of July 9), the new head of EMI “called on to relaunch the record label”, Massimo Sarmi of Poste Italiane (the Handelsblatt of July 16), Alessandro Profumo of UniCredit (“a human manager in charge of a group of 180 thousand people in 23 countries”, in the words of the Suddeutsche Zeitung of July 25), Anna Zegna (who spoke of her passion for architecture in the August 1 edition of Handelsblatt) and Matteo Alessi from the group of the same name (who discussed the application of the most advanced design to everyday objects in The Independent of September 24).

There was also some coverage of news from the fields of science and culture, where certain reports stood out. The interview with geneticist Edoardo Boncinelli on the future of research into humans (El Pais of September 1) was one of these. The Tuscan scientist, known in the world scientific community for having discovered the Emx-2 and Otx-2 genes, anticipated that “in the next 20 years, human beings will succeed in modifying their own genome, and although the scope of this change has not yet dawned on political leaders, we will have healthier, longer-lived, more intelligent and more productive people”.

The foreign press also found room to report on a man of culture such as Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture (the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of July 26), who complained of “the absence of religious works in contemporary art discourse” and called for “greater exposure for Catholic sculpture and painting, starting with the Venice Biennale, where up till now no space has been dedicated to such works.”

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There was a return to the sciences with a profile on Rita Levi Montalcini, “more active today than when she was young” (El Pais of October 24) and the feature on physicist Antonino Zichichi (in the International Herald Tribune of August 25), who, as with every year, assembled a group of 120 international scientists in Erice, Sicily, to discuss planetary emergencies, including climate change. According to the newspaper, Zichichi aims to foster an interdisciplinary, scientific and genuinely popular approach.

It is also worth mentioning two educational and research institutions that received a stamp of approval from the foreign press, namely, the IMT institute for advanced studies in Lucca, described by the Financial Times (July 23) as a true center of excellence, and the University of Trieste, cited by the Argentine paper Clarin (September 3) for a study it carried out on child psychology.

Finally, mention should be made of the Italy’s sporting achievements, which have been the talk of the world these last few months. Alongside coverage of a figure who has been confirmed as number one in his field, the 8-time world champion motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi (El Pais and the Gulf News of September 29 and The Jerusalem Post of September 26, to name a few), certain new names have also surfaced, in particular: the world champion cyclist Alessandro Ballan (El Mundo of September 28 and Le Figaro and the Shanghai Daily of September 29) – for three years running, the title has gone to an Italian – and the rising star of motorcycle racing, 21-year-old Marco Simoncelli, world champion in the 250cc class (El Pais of October 20).

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Newspapers monitored

™ Great Britain:

Frankfurter Allgemeine Financial Times Print edition Print edition

The Guardian Print edition Süddeutsche Zeitung Print edition The Independent Print edition Handelsblatt Print edition The Times Online edition Die Welt Print edition The Sunday Times Online edition

™ Spain: ™ France:

El Pais Print edition Le Monde Print edition El Mundo Online edition Le Figaro Print edition ABC Print edition Les Echos Print edition

La Tribune Print edition

™ Russia: ™ United States:

The Moscow Times Print edition The Wall Street Journal Print edition St. Petersburg Times Online edition The New York Times Print edition

International Herald Tribune ™ China: Print edition

The Washington Post China Daily Print edition Print edition Shanghai Daily Print edition Los Angeles Times Print edition

America Oggi Print edition

™ Germany:

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™ India: ™ Japan:

The Hindu Print edition The Japan Times Online edition

The Times of India Print edition Nikkei Online edition

™ Israel: ™ Brazil:

The Jerusalem Post Print edition Folha de S.Paulo Print edition

™ United Arab Emirates: ™ Mexico:

Gulf News Print edition La Jornada Print edition

™ Saudi Arabia: ™ Argentina:

Arab News Print edition Clarin Print edition

™ Algeria: ™ Australia:

La Tribune Print edition The Australian Print edition

™ Morocco: ™ Switzerland:

Le Matin Print edition Neue Zürcher Zeitung Print edition ™ South Africa:

Mail&Guardian Print edition

The Citizen Print edition

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Periodicals monitored

™ Great Britain: ™ Germany:

The Economist Print edition Der Spiegel Print edition

Die Zeit Print edition

™ France: ™ United States:

L’Express Print edition Time Print edition

Monde diplomatique Print edition Newsweek Print edition

Le Nouvel Observateur BusinessWeek Print edition Print edition Fortune Print edition

The New Yorker Print edition

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