1.6. ITALIAN - LANGUAGE MEDIA IN LEICHHARDT:
LA FIAMMA NEWSPAPER AND RETE ITALIA

The Italian language newspaper, La Fiamma ("The Flame" or "Beacon"), an institution in Sydney and beyond for over fifty years, has maintained a constant association with the suburb of Leichhardt. La Fiamma's sub-title from 1951, Il Giornale degli Italiani di Australia, "The Newspaper of Italians in Australia", makes clear its primary function and rationale. La Fiamma met a need for news that Italians would otherwise have been denied, news from Italy and international and local news in Italian (and English), as well as articles designed to assist them directly with problems of settlement.

The origins of La Fiamma date to 1946 and were closely linked with the Catholic Church. La Fiamma evolved from an idea for an Italian-language newspaper which Fr Giuseppe La Rosa expressed in 1945 to the Sydney Archdiocese. Fr La Rosa was a priest with the Apostolic Delegation in Sydney during World War 2. In 1942 La Rosa was appointed chaplain of the Italian-born community-many of whom were at that time in interment camps-by Archbishop (later Cardinal) Norman Gilroy.

One motive behind the founding of a newspaper with a strong religious and spiritual content was the perceived need to combat what has been described as a "radical, anti-clerical" newspaper, Il Risveglio (The Awakening), which began operation in 1944._ Il Risveglio was the first Italian language newspaper in Australia after the end of World War 2. As Gaetano Rando reports, it was published by the Australian-based anti-Fascist movement Italia Libera, after permission was granted in 1944 by the Attorney-General, H.V. Evatt. Claudio Alcorso was an early editor. Il Risveglio ceased publication in 1956.

In April 1946 the Australian Government responded positively to a request from Fr La Rosa to publish an Italian-language newspaper. However, the imposed restrictions and limitations meant that the permission granted for a newspaper that was to be called L'Apostolo, was not acted on. Cardinal Gilroy was in favour of a newspaper directly under the control of the Archdiocese and run by an association, consisting of a representative of the Diocesan Office, the Provincial of the Capuchin Friars, and Mr Ulisse Pellegrini (of Pellegrini's, the shop of religious books and articles, situated in Roma House in George Street in the city) who had expressed an interest in financing the venture.

La Fiamma Pty. Ltd. was formed in April 1947, and the newspaper La Fiamma had its first issue on 15 April 1947. At the end of 1947, Fr La Rosa gave up direction of the newspaper, and the American-born Capuchin friar of Italian descent, Fr Anastasio Paoletti, took over as director and editor-in-chief. Gilson and Zubrycki record an interview of 25 July 1961 with Fr Paoletti, in which he is reported to have said that he realised two years after beginning the newspaper that "by devoting it entirely to religious affairs we would not attract a wide readership" (Gilson 35). Once a decision to broaden its scope was made, "from then on it was all plain sailing . . . when Costanzo took over [in 1951] he easily implemented the policy of devoting the newspaper largely to news but news presented objectively in a true Christian spirit" (Paoletti, as reported in Gilson 36).

The first monthly issue of La Fiamma consisted of four pages in magazine format. For a number of years the paper was sold exclusively through subscription. A newspaper published in Italian in the immediate postwar years was not readily saleable on the open market. First of all, the newspaper was a small-scale operation in the early years and circulation was limited by available resources, and secondly, Italians themselves were reticent about subscribing to an Italian-language publication. As Davino Zadro recalled of the days in May-June 1947, when he delivered the newspaper by hand, people were afraid of receiving it:

Il nome stesso del giornale era una sfida: a quell'epoca era pericoloso parlare in italiano, figuriamoci stampare un giornale in lingua straniera e per giunta, in una lingua di ex nemici.

The name of the newspaper itself was a challenge; in those days it was dangerous to speak Italian, let alone publish a newspaper in a foreign language that was moreover the language of an ex-enemy._

During 1947, La Fiamma was prepared for publication in a room in Roma House and printed by Cresta. At the beginning of 1948, the office moved to Cusa House and printing was in the hands of O'Loughlin Brothers printery near Central Station. In the early 1950s, as Fr Atanasio Gonelli recently reported, the main office of La Fiamma was in Cusa House in Elizabeth Street in the city, the linotype section in Annandale and the printer in Parramatta. La Fiamma progressed in 1948 from monthly to fortnightly publication. Its first weekly edition appeared on 12 August 1949. In 1951, the year the newspaper moved to a tabloid format, the first Leichhardt office was established. The large format was dropped after a few years in favour of the afternoon paper format, which was easier to read on the bus or tram. By 1958 publication was twice a week, with a circulation of around 28,000.

In the early years, Davino Zadro was principal editor. Others, including Franco Battistessa who had worked on Italian language newspapers in Sydney during the 1930s, joined the early staff of La Fiamma. Battistessa, together with Filippo Maria Bianchi, later of Romano's restaurant in the city and subsequently manager of the A.P.I.A. Club, was responsible from 1932 for the bi-lingual weekly, Il Giornale Italiano. In 1940, Il Giornale Italiano was the last of the Italian language publications suppressed when Italy entered the war in 1940. Battistessa played a significant public role through the print media in combatting racism and discrimination directed at Italians living in Australia.

Zadro was a committed supporter of La Fiamma. As Rando reports, he "undertook an extensive door-knock campaign to promote the new paper" (p. 205). Zadro regularly used shortwave radio to gather sports and other news from Italy, which he later printed in the newspaper. Zadro became sports editor when Evasio Costanzo (subsequently proprietor of the newspaper) was appointed editor-in-charge in 1951. Zadro's twenty-year association with the newspaper is reported in the newspaper's anniversary supplement of 29 July 1967. Zadro records the collaboration of the first regular Italian correspondent, Professor Caporale, La Fiamma's first Australian correspondent, G. Linarello, who was based in Adelaide, as well as the work of Margherita Calvi who started in the office as secretary and later became editor of "L'angolo delle donne"._

Evasio Costanzo took over as editor in August 1951, a date noted in Costanzo's obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald (12 October 1993). Costanzo's association with La Fiamma endured for over twenty years. He was already a trained journalist when he arrived in Australia, having worked in Italy with the prestigious Turin daily newspaper, La Stampa. "[Costanzo] was to guide the destinies of the paper for the next 25 years, quickly transforming it from a religious-based paper to a secular one, giving it a political direction and a circulation of 44,000 copies by the 1960s" (Rando 1993: 206).

In 1952, the year in which La Fiamma ceased subscription-only circulation, the newspaper was based in offices at 495 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt. Early members of the production staff included the compositor Mr Del Pian and the linotype operator Clemente Clagnan who had learned the printing trade in Milano before World War 2. Clagnan passed on his skills to staff from diverse occupational backgrounds who assisted with production, including his son Ivo. By 1957 the office of La Fiamma was at 499 Parramatta Road. In that year, Costanzo started a special Sunday edition, La Fiamma della Domenica, which did not prosper (Gilson 36). By 1967 La Fiamma had a weekly circulation of 44,000 and continued to be issued twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday). For the period 1963-1971, Fr Atanasio Gonelli, who assisted Fr Anastasio with the newspaper from the time of his arrival in Sydney in January 1950, also as editor of the religious page, was director of the newspaper.

From the late 1960s, under Costanzo's editorship, the newspaper began to identify with the Australian Labor Party, and it continued to be vocal in issues affecting immigrants. As Rando observes, the 1972 petition of 72,000 signatures, sponsored by La Fiamma to urge the transferibility of Australian pensions to Italy, was part of a history of involvement of the newspaper in social issues. In fact, La Fiamma had a long tradition of fund-raising among its readers to support disaster relief in Italy, collecting $300,000 over the years 1947-1967. On the Australian scene, for example, the newspaper responded to the 1953-1954 crisis of the assisted immigrants detained at Bonegilla migrant camp. Its journalists, especially in the early years, were frequently approached by members of the Italian community in need of help: "journalists often found themselves acting in a referral role, sometimes as interpreters" (Rando 1993: 207).

Advice and support was an integral part of the newspaper's brief. Mrs Lena Gustin was a columnist for La Fiamma (1957-1964), using the pseudonym Grazia, dealing with daily issues of settlement. Mrs Enoe Di Stefano, as Gianna, was involved in writing "L'angolo di Gianna", a section dedicated to a different theme each week, which also answered letters from both male and female readers. As Mrs Di Stefano has reported, women commonly expressed a desire to return to Italy, since they found their new life isolated and difficult and missed family in Italy. Those who lived on farms sometimes took to drink to relieve their loneliness. Single men experienced similar feelings. Cultural and language differences were a source of tension. The view that Italians commonly carried knives was well entrenched. Fights often occurred between Italians and non-Italians at work sites when the language barrier caused communication problems.

In November 1969, the newspaper was sold by the Capuchins, and it eventually passed into the control of Costanzo. Costanzo remained director and proprietor for around five years until 1974. A crisis befell La Fiamma in the period 1975-1977 when it appeared that the newspaper would fold. This was averted with its sale in May 1978 to the company connected with the Italian language newspaper Il Globo, in its 1959 origins associated with Melbourne and Victoria. In 1994, the proprietors of Il Globo and La Fiamma added to their holdings the Italian language radio network, Rete Italia. In 1997 La Fiamma moved to new premises at 92-94 Norton Street, Leichhardt where Rete Italia also has its Sydney office.

La Fiamma has an authentic and important connection with the Italian-born community and with Leichhardt. For more than fifty years, La Fiamma has played important roles in Italian language and culture maintenance, the transmission of news and the provision of information in areas which mainstream print media did not address. Davino Zadro, Evasio Costanzo, Pino Bosi, Giuliano Montagna, Rosa Rossi, and Armando Tornari are just some of the journalistic staff who have over time made a major contribution to La Fiamma.

The front page of the first issue of La Fiamma in 1947 had a strong religious content, with a message about the Resurrection and news of papal politics in Italy relating to the renewal of the Lateran Pacts, as well as two short columns in English. The use of English in the newspaper from its inception was directed at overcoming the language barrier for newly arrived immigrants. The newspaper in fact carried sections devoted to the learning of English. The purpose of English shifted when, from the early 1980s, a distinct section directed at the second generation was introduced.

Front pages of the first decade of La Fiamma cover such topics as the Australian Government policy on immigration, the 1951 accord between Italy and Australia over assisted immigration, the problems of emigration and settlement, the problems and inconsistencies of the assisted migration scheme, and institutional racism and discrimination. Gilson records some interesting data on a range of broad categories (and their relative proportions) covered in La Fiamma in the period 1956-1959. Australian affairs ranked almost equal in column space with news from Italy and news related to migrant group activity in Australia (Gilson 56-57). In the 1960s, topics and events covered on front pages included the riots at the Bonegilla migrant hostel, the Italian Prime Minister Leone's campaign about the economic revitalisation of Southern Italy, urging Italians to return to Italy, the need for the children of immigrants to maintain or learn their mother tongue, and the widening of sponsorship rules to facilitate emigration of extended family members and friends.

La Fiamma is currently published in three issues per week, and it covers both Australian and Italian news, including a regular section in English aimed at the second and third generations. With a regular insert from the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, La Fiamma is an essential part of the thriving Italian language media in Australia. It should not be forgotten that after English, Italian is reportedly the most widely spoken language in the domestic sphere in Australia. Fifty years on, La Fiamma with its transnational links, is part of a thriving national media structure offering services in languages other than English.