Lilli Gruber
Encyclopedia
Dietlinde "Lilli" Gruber (born 19 April 1957) is an Italian
journalist
and television personality from South Tyrol
.
Currently a talk show host for Italian private television channel La7
, Gruber also served as Member of the European Parliament
from 2004 to September 2008 under the Olive Tree ticket.
and German
native speaker. She graduated in English Language and Literature at the University of Venice
. In 1987 she became the first female anchor to present the TG1
, Italy's most popular television news program on Rai Uno
. In 1988, she became international political correspondent for RAI, covering events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union
, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
, the war in the former Yugoslavia
, the situation in the United States
after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Iraq
i war.
In April 2004 Gruber resigned from her position at RAI
in protest against the influence on state controlled media by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
. She attacked his "unresolved conflict of interest", and considered that RAI had abandoned its tradition of pluralism in order to support the government's views. Gruber has also worked for the Italian
daily newspaper La Stampa
, and for "Io Donna", the women's magazine of Italy's leading newspaper Corriere della Sera
, and for magazines TV Sorrisi e Canzoni
and Anna.
she ran as an independent candidate for the European Parliament
under the centre-left Olive Tree ticket; her candidacy was proposed, together with Michele Santoro
, after she was pushed out of Silvio Berlusconi
-controlled RAI. She topped the Olive Tree votes in two electoral regions, and beat Berlusconi himself in the Central region vote. After election, she joined the Socialist Group
. She served in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
, and as an alternate on the Committee on Foreign Affairs
and Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States
, including Yemen
. She resigned from her position in September 2008, months before the natural completion of her mandate, to return to her previous journalism career.
, where she took charge of long-time political talk show Otto e mezzo that still hosts to date.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and television personality from South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
.
Currently a talk show host for Italian private television channel La7
La7
La7 is an Italian television channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia.-History:In 2001, Lorenzo Pellicioli and Roberto Colaninno, of Telecom Italia announced they had acquired Telemontecarlo, in order to create a strong competitor against the six other national channels...
, Gruber also served as Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
from 2004 to September 2008 under the Olive Tree ticket.
Early career and resignation from RAI
Gruber was born in Bolzano and is an ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
native speaker. She graduated in English Language and Literature at the University of Venice
University of Venice
Ca' Foscari University is a university in Venice, northern Italy. It was founded in 1868 as the first Italian business college. The main building of the University, Ca’ Foscari Palace, is placed in a strategic position on the bend of the Grand Canal, in the heart of the city...
. In 1987 she became the first female anchor to present the TG1
TG1
TG1 is the brand for Italian state-owned TV channel Rai 1's news programmes. They are shown domestically on Rai Uno and across the Europe on Rai News 24 and the world on Raitalia several times throughout the day...
, Italy's most popular television news program on Rai Uno
Rai Uno
Rai 1 is the primary television station of RAI, the national public service broadcaster, and the most watched television channel in Italy. It was born as Rai Tv from 1954 to 1961, called Programma Nazionale from 1961 to 1979, after called Rete 1 from 1979 to 1982, then called Rai Uno from 1982 to...
. In 1988, she became international political correspondent for RAI, covering events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, the war in the former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
, the situation in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i war.
In April 2004 Gruber resigned from her position at RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
in protest against the influence on state controlled media by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
. She attacked his "unresolved conflict of interest", and considered that RAI had abandoned its tradition of pluralism in order to support the government's views. Gruber has also worked for the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
daily newspaper La Stampa
La Stampa
La Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
, and for "Io Donna", the women's magazine of Italy's leading newspaper Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
, and for magazines TV Sorrisi e Canzoni
TV Sorrisi e Canzoni
TV Sorrisi e Canzoni is an Italian weekly listings magazine and is the most sold weekly in Italy.Based in Segrate, Milan, Italy, it is published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the biggest Italian publishing company....
and Anna.
As Member of European Parliament
In the European Parliament elections of 2004European Parliament election, 2004 (Italy)
Elections to the European Parliament were held in Italy on 12 and 13 June 2004. Italy's highly fragmented party system made it hard to identify an overall trend, but the results were generally seen as a defeat for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a victory for the centre-left opposition...
she ran as an independent candidate for the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
under the centre-left Olive Tree ticket; her candidacy was proposed, together with Michele Santoro
Michele Santoro
Michele Santoro is an Italian journalist, anchorman, television host and presenter.He also served till October 2005 as Member of the European Parliament for Southern Italy with the Olive Tree, part of the Socialist Group and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice...
, after she was pushed out of Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
-controlled RAI. She topped the Olive Tree votes in two electoral regions, and beat Berlusconi himself in the Central region vote. After election, she joined the Socialist Group
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
. She served in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs is a standing committee of the European Parliament.-External links:*...
, and as an alternate on the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Foreign Affairs (EU)
The Committee on Foreign Affairs , previously called Political Affairs, is a committee of the European Parliament...
and Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
"Arab states of the Persian Gulf" or "Arab Persian Gulf states" or "Persian Gulf Arab states" or "Arabic Persian Gulf states" or "Arab States of The Gulf", are terms that refer to the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf....
, including Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. She resigned from her position in September 2008, months before the natural completion of her mandate, to return to her previous journalism career.
Back into national TV
After her resignation from European Parliament, Gruber accepted an offer from private TV channel La7La7
La7 is an Italian television channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia.-History:In 2001, Lorenzo Pellicioli and Roberto Colaninno, of Telecom Italia announced they had acquired Telemontecarlo, in order to create a strong competitor against the six other national channels...
, where she took charge of long-time political talk show Otto e mezzo that still hosts to date.
Career
- since 1982: Professional journalist
- 1984 to 2004: Worked for RAI (Italian radio and television broadcasting company)
- 1999: Worked with the German TV channel SWFSüdwestrundfunkThe Südwestrundfunk is a public broadcasting company for the southwest of Germany, specifically the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The company has main offices in three cities: Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is an...
(1988) and Pro 7 (1996) and with CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... - Since 2009: Anchors the Italian television news magazine "Otto e Mezzo" broadcast on the commercial La7 TV network.
Education
- 1993: 'William Benton Fellowship for Broadcasting JournalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s' at the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890... - 2002: 'Visiting scholar' at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
; for two years 'discussion leader' at the World Economic Forum of Davos
Awards and honours
- 1991: "Numeri UNO" Prize
- 1995: Best Female Journalist
- 1995: Carlo Schmidt Preis, awarded in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for distinguished service to freedom of information - 1995: Fregene prize
- 2001: Spoleto prize
- For covering the war in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, inter aliaInter Alia-Track listing:# Inter Alia# Outfox'd # Righteous Badass # The Altogether feat. Bix, Apt, UNIVERSE ARM and Cal# The Day-to-Daily# Trouble Brewing # The Prestidigitator# The Force... - 2004: Honorary graduate of the American University of RomeAmerican University of RomeThe American University of Rome is the oldest degree-granting American university in Rome, Italy. The school was founded in 1969, and has an undergraduate enrollment of around 500.The language of instruction is English....
Works
- I miei Giorni a Baghdad ("My Days in Baghdad", 2003)
- L'altro Islam ("The Other Islam", 2004)
- Chador (2005)
- America anno zero ("America year zero", 2006)
- Figlie dell'Islam (2007)
- Streghe (2008)
- Ritorno a Berlino (2009)