“Italian blogs, so far, have done much less than what they could have. We may be close to the numbers in the United States, but the quality is still lagging behind”. As a layman, I would have expected this criticism to come from someone from the traditional media, so often critical of the world of blogs. In fact, this concern was voiced to me by Luca Sofri, the name behind Wittgenstein, one of the most important blogs in Italy. A blogger since 2001, Luca Sofri also writes for Il Foglio, Vanity Fair and La Gazzetta della Sport. He became a journalist quite late in his life, but is now ready to launch a revolution in the world of Italian blogs.

On the 14th of January, a photo from “All the President’s Men” appeared on the white background characterising Wittgenstein. The title of the post was “We want you” and the first few words, in red, were “this is a job offer”. The word of Italian media is extremely musky when it comes to job opportunities. As many prospective journalists know very well, there are very few media websites with a clear section outlining how to apply for an internship, let alone a job. The fact that a job offer appeared on a blog, possibly the media you would least expect to find a job offer in, was a surprise for many. However, it was certainly a good one, as over three hundred people decided to send their CVs. The selections ended at the end of February. A fifth blogger had been picked, to join the team of four already put together by Luca.

“We want to do something like the Italian version of the Huffington Post” Luca Sofri confirmed as I was interviewing in his beautiful office in the centre of Milan. “We will have a paid team of five and will accept unpaid contributions from many different bloggers, who will receive, in return, some visibility”.

Luca has a natural aversion for sloppiness. This is evident as he often writes posts on “news which were not news”, as to underline the lack of professionalism which he thinks characterises many Italian journalists. Such an aversion is translated into a close attention for details, especially on this latest adventure. Hence, I was not surprised when he pre-empted me on the usual objection made on this type of projects, namely money. “We have a business plan, and we have investors who are confident that they will get their money back”.

When I asked him whether he thought there was a market for such a venture in Italian, his reply was also quite confident. “We have thought about this project and, of course, we believe there is an interest". A logical argument. One even Wittgenstein, the real one, would have been sympathetic to.