World: La Dolce Payola

Enrico Mattei was one of the most powerful men in Italy when he died in a plane crash three months ago. As wheeler-dealer boss of the huge government-owned E.N.I, oil monopoly, he used sharp elbows at home and abroad in the constant effort to expand the power of his $2 billion industrial giant. When the elbows did not work, money did—as indicated by the recent tribulations of some of Italy’s most prominent newspapers.

Stasera, a new Milan daily, closed shortly after Mattei died. One of Milan’s morning papers cut editorial salaries by 20%, fired part of the staff, and canceled plans for an afternoon edition. An economy wave swept over Milan’s Il Giorno, Italy’s fourth largest daily. Two Rome papers began a steady descent toward oblivion.

Mattei directly controlled only one paper, Il Giorno. But E.N.I, was a leading advertising account for scores of others. When Rome’s conservative financial daily, Il Globo, accused E.N.I, of unfair competition, the lucrative E.N.I, ads abruptly ceased. How much Mattei money was transferred into the Italian press remained a secret locked in Mattei’s mind—and in his office safe. Without doubt, it was plenty. Before his death, the industrial swashbuckler told a visiting journalist: “That safe contains every one,” meaning the long list of newspapers on Italy’s top payola list.