Corporate stories like Ferrero, as it continues its growth abroad, or Buccellati, which makes jewellery in accordance with traditions that “haven’t changed since the Renaissance.” Personal stories, like that of online fashion geek Federico Marchetti, who made Yoox the “worldwide Amazon of luxury.” Stories of artistic innovation, like the multimedia journey into Caravaggio’s work, which attracted the Spanish press to Rome’s Palazzo delle Esposizioni.
Italian stories are woven through the pages of international newspapers. The economy and financial news – due also to new stock exchange listings and incoming foreign investment – are a larger and constant presence of late. The coverage traditionally dedicated to articles on culture, tourism, or individual major events (like Milan’s Salone del Mobile, which always gets a lot of attention from the foreign press) has likewise been confirmed.
However, one leitmotif appears to be shared by the news stories from Italy in the various sectors: internationalization, which is manifested in the most diverse aspects. In economics, it is Italian businesses looking to overseas markets and foreign investment funds looking for bargains on the Italian market. In culture, it is the major exhibitions, but also the leading figures – like the new director of Pinacoteca Brera, the Canadian James Bradburne, or such world famous literary phenomena as Elena Ferrante – that have brought Italy to the international limelight. In the meantime, tourism continues to make history all its own, confirming the international attention shown to it, while more travel choices off the more beaten traditional path are being offered.
Foreign newspapers thus appear to show an Italy that is more open to and in communication with the rest of the world. It is a sign that excellence – personal and cultural – at times makes for a bigger story than political news or the macroeconomic uncertainties that the daily press continues to recount.