The recognition of minority languages within the Italian territory is safeguarded by the 1948 Italian Constitution, provisions of the autonomous regions, as well as international commitments. As it is stated in article 6 of the Constitution: “The Republic safeguards linguistic minorities by means of specific measures” (Piergigli, 2016). Thus, the public broadcaster RAI provides information in languages other than Italian in regions with special or ordinary status as the home of minority communities. Furthermore, there are initiatives such as Daily Muslim, an Italian online newspaper for Muslims in Italy; Romit.tv, an Italian television channel dedicated to the Romanian community; Obiectiv, an Italian-Roma bilingual newspaper printed fortnightly in Turin; Agi.it, a news agency dedicated to news articles and in-depth reports on contemporary China; Cinitalia, an Italian-Chinese magazine to promote both cultures; and Albanianews.it, an online newspaper in Italian language, reporting on Albanian issues, just to cite a few.
In the Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste, RAI has been producing radio programmes such as Voix de la Vallèe since 1968, and television news and local programmes in Italian and French, in addition to the transmission of French and Swiss channels, France2 and Suisse Romande (RAI Aosta, 2020). Moreover, Ràdio Valàde offers radio transmission in Franco-Provençal to promote the language and culture of the Aosta, Savoy, and Swiss regions. The initiative is funded by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, enshrined in law 482/99 (Norms for the Protection of Linguistics and Historical Minorities). In Trentino-Alto Adige in South-Tirol, there are cultural, educational, entertainment, and news programmes in Italian, German, and Ladino. The radio news Tagesschau, founded in 1966, was broadcasted initially in German, but expanded its coverage to embrace radio and television programmes in German and Ladino. In 1998, the television news TRAIl started to broadcast its coverage in the three official languages of the region, Italian, German, and Ladino (RAI Alto Adige, 2020). In addition, TV Ladina on YouTube prides itself for being a digital platform of the people, produced with and for the people of the Fassa Valley (Comun General de Fascia). The print newspaper Dolomiten, founded in 1926, is the oldest daily in Trentino-Alto Adige, dedicated to the promotion of the cultural identities of the peoples of South-Tirol in German and Ladino languages. Another example is the Neue Südtiroler Tageszeitung, founded in 1996, with editions from Tuesday to Saturday. On Sundays, the newspaper circulates the Saturday edition with a special dossier. In Friuli Venezia Giulia, the regional studio of RAI broadcasts radio and television programmes in Italian and Slovene to promote the coexistence of both languages and cultures (RAI Friuli, 2020). The Primorski dnevnik, founded in 1945, is the only newspaper dedicated to the Slovene minority in the region, with editions from Tuesday to Sunday. These three newspapers, Primorski dnevnik, Dolomiten, and Neue Südtiroler Tageszeitung, are the Italian representatives of the European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages, which includes 27 dailies from 13 different European countries.
Looking beyond minority languages, the Italian association Articolo 21 (Farina, 2016) mappeda wide range of civic initiatives, providing a long list of available websites and resources, categorised according to their main focus: general news, economy, and alternative consumption habits, environment, geopolitics, and Global South, social issues, counter-information, crime, and criminal organisations, participative journalism. In this context, some news sources can be highlighted as alternative media.
