(by Elisabetta Sefanelli) ANTONIO PADELLARO, ‘I SWEAR ONLY THE TRUTH. JOURNALISTS ARTISTS CLOWNS’. (PIEMME, PAGE 187, EURO 18.90) – He may have been recommended by his father, as he ironically always tells when talking about his beginnings as a journalist, but the fact that the boy Antonio Padellaro had talent is confirmed not only by his career but by his passion , the self-irony and brilliance in which he still puts himself on the line in his latest book, ”Solo la vera lo giuro”, just released by Piemme.
That sacred fire that ran through him throughout his life and led him to challenge the parent who was decidedly against his political ideas and his desire to do a job that in his opinion was not such, has not died down even a spark. But the enchantment of these pages by Padellaro which can be read all in one go – it is not just a way of saying in this case – is the passion, the seriousness and at the same time the lightness that characterize his life experience, because it’s about his life.
”In 1968 he became a professional journalist at ANSA. He worked at Corriere della sera from 1971 to 1990 as editor, correspondent and head of the Roman editorial team. In 1990 he moved to Espresso as deputy director. In 2001 he participated in the re-foundation of the Unit which he directed from 2005 to 2008.
From 2009 to 2015 he was the first director of Il Fatto Quotidiano, which he helped found. And for which he is currently a columnist”. This is what we read on the back cover which is useful for summarizing Padellaro’s long journey – always teetering on the edge of the challenge – in the world of printed paper. But it is certainly not nostalgia that marks these pages in which the experience of Il Fatto acts as a common thread, on the contrary, it is the enthusiasm of those who have tried to capitalize on their successes and their mistakes, like that time when just mentioned director of the Unit stumbled upon a hoax for which he apologized.
These pages are moreover an irresistible journey through the history of Italy, which Padellaro has told while also collecting several scoops. There is the kidnapping of Aldo Moro and the seance at Romano Prodi’s house, the decline of Bettino Craxi, the imprint of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s body, the rise and fall of Silvio Berlusconi with a fantastic dinner at the knight with Francesca Pascale, P2 with the list of names among which that of its director at the time appeared, Franco Bassanini’s confessions on Giuliano Amato, behind the scenes of Raul Gardini’s suicide told by his best friend, vanity and the support of many colleagues, the adrenaline and the fear of the moment when you come across real news, the friendship and also, why not, a pinch of malice.
Not to mention the hilarious chapter in which he lines up a real comedy of errors linked to his books.
But above all there is the great love, the donut with the hole, that is, that newspaper which was the greatest editorial success of the last decade shared with Marco Travaglio to whom he left the baton of management, the paradox of years in which the paper goes inexorably disappearing. Then of course there is politics, which is not a different story at all.
ANTONIO PADELLARO, ‘ONLY THE TRUTH I SWEAR will open the section of Passaggi Festival in Fano dedicated to information and power on 26 June at the Benedictine Cloister, from 9.30pm to 10.30pm.
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