How a regional Turin gazette became a pillar of Italian national journalism

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Founded in 1867 as a local Piedmontese paper, La Stampa evolved from a regional voice into a national institution. Its history is marked by political turbulence, ownership shifts between industrial titans and media groups, and a constant struggle to define its identity amidst Italy's shifting cultural and political landscape.

Originally established as Gazzetta Piemontese by Vittorio Bersezio in February 1867, the publication spent its first decades serving the Piedmont region. It was not until 1895, under the leadership of Alfredo Frassati, that the paper adopted its current name and began to cultivate a broader national perspective. This trajectory was interrupted in 1924 when Frassati was forced to resign for criticizing the murder of socialist Giacomo Matteotti. The subsequent sale of the paper to Giovanni Agnelli, co-founder of the automobile manufacturer Fiat, cemented a long-standing connection between the newspaper and Italy's industrial elite.

For much of the 20th century, La Stampa functioned as an institution daily, a classification proposed by Angelo Agostini in 2004 to describe its role as a foundational pillar of Italian society. Unlike agenda-driven or activist newspapers, La Stampa historically catered to the industrialist and financial classes. It was only during the nationalization processes of the late 1970s and early 1980s that the paper truly transitioned into a national daily, shedding its previous status as a regional publication primarily focused on Piedmont.

The newspaper has undergone significant structural and editorial changes in recent years. In November 2006, it transitioned from a traditional broadsheet to the Berliner format, and in 2012, it relocated from its historical editorial building to new headquarters in Turin. Under the leadership of Massimo Giannini, who took the helm in 2020, the paper shifted toward a more pronounced centre-left editorial stance. Today, owned by GEDI Gruppo Editoriale, La Stampa continues to navigate the challenges of the modern news industry, as evidenced by the 2017 international conference it hosted to discuss the future of journalism with global media leaders.

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