User:Lion-hearted85/Enrico Mentana Draft1

Enrico Mentana (born 15 January 1955 in Milan) is an Italian journalist, television presenter and publisher. He founded the Italian news program TG5 and directed it from 1992 to 2004. In 2005, as a editorial director of Canale 5, he conceived and curated the talk show Matrix until his resignation in 2009 due to a disagreement with the network. From June 2010 he is the director of the news program TG La7. He is the founder and director of the online newspaper Open from December 2018.

Early life
Enrico Mentana was born in Milan on 15 January 1955. He is the eldest son of Franco Mentana, well-known correspondent of La Gazzetta dello Sport and native of Bova, and Lella, of Jewish origins. He was baptized as a Catholic, although he will always show great closeness to the Jewish people. His younger brother, Vittorio, has been responsible of Milan football club's communication until 2018. Grew in the Milan's district of Giambellino, he attended the liceo ginnasio Alessandro Manzoni, first joining the small anarchist group Movimento Socialista Libertario , in 1968, and then the Italian Socialist Party.

He collaborated and then became director of the magazine Giovane Sinistra, official organ of the Italian Socialist Youth Federation (Federazione Giovanile Socialista Italiana), of which he has been vice-president from 1977 to 1979. He enrolled to the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Milan, but never graduated.

In an interview, he stated that he "always thought of being a journalist, because of my father and my love, my admiration for him". He joined the redaction of La Gazzetta dello Sport as a proofreader in 1973, when he was 18 years old. He became a professional journalist on 2 February 1982.

The beginnings in Rai
On 27 February 1980, Mentana was hired by Rai, Italy's public radio and television broadcaster, at the Foreign Affairs editorial staff of TG1, the newscast hosted on the main channel Rai 1. His video debut was in 1981 as a special correspondent in London with the report of the marriage between Charles of England and Lady Diana. His first well-known interview was with the mother of Mehmet Ali Ağca after his assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II. He made a quick career in the company, which led him to be the anchor of the mid-evening edition of TG1 first, then editor-in-chief of the weekly tv documentary Speciale TG1, taking over from Alberto La Volpe.

In 1987, he refused the proposal from Bettino Craxi to be a testimonial of a PSI election spot, characterized by the motto "Perhaps a carnation would be good for you too" ("Forse un garofano starebbe bene anche a voi"). This was a cause of tension with the then Rai management. On 16 January 1989 he was appointed deputy editor of TG2, directed by La Volpe at that time, but was removed a year later. From 1988 to 1991, until he left Rai, he hosted Altri particolari in cronaca, a current events program on Rai 2.

Arrival in Fininvest and foundation of TG5
In autumn 1991 he moved to Fininvest. On 13 January 1992, together with the journalists Lamberto Sposini, Clemente J. Mimun, Emilio Carelli, Cesara Buonamici and Cristina Parodi he founded TG5, Canale 5's newscast, becoming its director when he was only 37 years old. The evening edition, broadcast at 20:00, had an audience that almost always exceeded seven million viewers. The first occasion in which surpassed TG1 was the special newscast which announced the death of judge Giovanni Falcone).

In 1993 he hosted the current events program Diritto e rovescio, while in 1994 he hosted the program Braccio di ferro as a moderator of the confrontation between Silvio Berlusconi, leader of Pole of Freedoms and of Pole of Good Government, and Achille Occhetto, leader of Alliance of Progressives.

After the dismissal of Indro Montanelli from Il Giornale, Mentana criticizes this editorial choice dando per primo la notizia del licenziamento e intervistandolo in diretta al TG5 nel giorno del licenziamento. Gli risponde Giuliano Ferrara, il quale chiede le dimissioni di Mentana ma, in seguito alla polemica sollevatasi, Silvio Berlusconi conferma la stima e la fiducia nei confronti del direttore del TG5.

Nel 1996 è il moderatore nella trasmissione Testa a testa del confronto televisivo tra Silvio Berlusconi, leader del Polo per le Libertà, e Romano Prodi, leader de L'Ulivo. Ancora su Canale 5 nel 1998 conduce insieme a Maurizio Costanzo I tre tenori, una serata-tributo a Mike Bongiorno, Corrado e Raimondo Vianello, replicata l'anno seguente con Vittorio Gassman, Alberto Sordi e Monica Vitti. Sempre nel 1999 per la stessa rete, in occasione della morte di Corrado, Mentana ha condotto uno speciale a lui dedicato dal titolo Solo Corrado.

In December 2018, he launched Open, an online newspaper directed by Massimo Corcione (former director of Sky Sport and Sky Sport 24). Its editorial staff is composed of 25 young journalists.

He is a passionate fan of Inter football club. He never got a driver license.