A hand making the victory sign. The leather is covered in white, red and green paint but that of the wrist is visible, and adds an extra colour: because the hand chosen by Oliviero Toscani for the photo on the cover of the new issue of L’Espresso is that of an immigrant . “The Italy of tomorrow”, reads the title: that image, explains director Alessandro Mauro Rossi in his editorial«designs what we would like our country to be, and which will in part inevitably be: multi-ethnic, welcoming, winning, resilient, tolerant, looking to the future».
With this cover begins a new phase in the life of the Espresso. The most obvious difference is in the stretched format and paper quality. There are also many innovations inside: new classification of topics, new commentators, new sections. However, the predilection for investigations does not change. Starting from the cover, signed by Vittorio Malagutti, which takes stock of the ways out of a crisis which, even if still threatening for less well-off families, shows signs of hope. The rich, adds Gloria Riva, can also count on the benefits promised by the reform of regional autonomy proposed by Calderoli. And while Chiara Sgreccia recounts the initiative that welcomes minors by placing them in school, Simone Alliva takes stock of Italy’s immigrants: who begin to decline just when they had arrived at producing 9 percent of GDP.
The political page opens with an analysis by Susanna Turco on the first hundred days of the Meloni government: who surprisingly, from the raves to the excise duties on petrol to the Pos, stood out for his indecision, compromises and reverses. The magic circle of the premier, meanwhile, is all taken by race for nominations: Carlo Tecce talks about the strategies of those who decide, from Giorgetti to Fazzolari, and the CVs of eligible candidates. An investigation by Sergio Rizzo focuses instead on the scandal of the administrative judges, who supplement salaries with lavish incentives, bonuses and arbitration. He looks up Massimo Cacciari who sticks to the government and Pd who deal with particularisms and not with the crisis of democracy. Gianfrancesco Turano reconstructs the games of sport and power of the award-winning company “Abodi & Lotito”, Edoardo Prallini chooses ten young companies destined to change our lives, Emilio Cozzi takes stock of the Italian “space economy”. Eugenio Occorsio instead recounts Biden’s “New Deal”, which in recent times has been pouring out money, with the result that American companies have much higher subsidies than those allowed to European competitors.
Toscani’s diary of the week begins with this issue, a very personal review of topical images combined with aphorisms that broaden its meaning. And L’Espresso closes with a focus on the “green vague” of art museums (by Sabina Minardi) and a selection of the most interesting exhibitions of the moment signed by Giuseppe Fantasia.
Francesca De Sanctis talks to Renzo Arbore about Giorgio Gaber, on the twentieth anniversary of his death, Aisha Cerami collects the confidences of Antonio Albanese. And while the users of BeReal, the “anti-Instagram” app that pushes users to sincerity (by Valeria Verbaro), grow, it turns out that many songwriters are lying: on the eve of Sanremo a ghost-writer reveals to Tommaso Giagni that the songs intimates of many highly acclaimed artists are sometimes not their sack flour at all.
Tomorrow’s Italy: L’Espresso on newsstands and online from Sunday 15 January