Compiled with the help of Alessio Cornia, Dublin City University.

Italy’s mixing of politics and media has sometimes led to concerns about concentration of media ownership. Mediaset, founded by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and public broadcaster, Rai, account for the majority of TV viewing. The Italian press is highly regionalised, reflecting Italy’s history and character. Newspaper readership figures are low compared to other European countries.

Top Brands

Changing Media

Newspaper readership continues to fall steadily while television news viewership has been more stable than in many other countries. The smartphone is now the main device used to get online news with around two-thirds (63%) of our sample using it for news each week.

Trust

Trust in news is particularly low. This long-standing trend is mainly due to the partisan nature of Italian journalism and to the strong influence of political and business interests on news organisations. Brands that are most trusted are generally those that are known for lower levels of political partisanship. Least trusted is the popular digital-born website Fanpage.