14/03/2003

The day after Paolo Mieli’s decision to stand down, Pierferdinando Casini and Marcello Pera, the speakers of, respectively, the Lower and Upper Houses of the Italian Parliament appointed his successor, Lucia Annunziata. This 49-year-old native of Sarno in Campania, southern Italy, is a highly-respected journalist and the editor-in-chief of the AP-Biscom agency (part of the E-Biscom network). She began her career at “Il Manifesto” and subsequently worked for top Italian dailies, “La Repubblica” and “Il Corriere della Sera”. In 1995 Annunziata entered the Italian television sector when she anchored a political talk show, and the following year was appointed to the directorship of TG3, a position she held until 1998. Annunziata will be the second woman in history to head Italy’s state broadcaster, after Letizia Moratti in 1994-1996.

(Translated from Italian)