Enrico Mentana


Enrico Mentana is an Italian journalist and the director of TG La7 since 15 June 2010.

Early life

Mentana is the eldest son of Franco Mentana, a Calabrian sportswriter, and Lella Mentana, a Jewish woman from Macerata. Raised in the Giambellino district of Milan, he attended liceo classico "Alessandro Manzoni" before joining the Italian Socialist Party.
He became an editor of Young Left, the official organ of the Federation of Young Socialists, of which he was vice president from 1977 to 1979. He then enrolled at the University of Milan to study political science, but never graduated.

Career

RAI

On 27 February 1980, Mentana was hired by RAI, Italy's public radio and television broadcaster. His first interview was with the mother of Mehmet Ali Ağca after Ağca's assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II. Within RAI, Mentana was put in charge of TG1, the newscast hosted on the main channel RAI 1 and then became deputy director of TG2.
In 1987, he refused a request from Bettino Craxi, the leader of the Italian Socialist Party, to be the main spokesperson for a political commercial. This led to tension between Mentana and the RAI management. Starting in 1988, Mentana was restricted to minor roles. In 1991, he was fired from RAI.

TG5

In autumn 1991, Mentana began working for Fininvest, and on 13 January 1992, he started the newscast hosted on the newborn Channel 5: TG5, with Lamberto Sposini, Clemente J. Mimum, Emilio Carelli, Cesara Buonamici, and Cristina Parodi. Mentana served as director of the newly created newscast, whose audience often exceeded seven million listeners. TG5 beat TG1 in viewership several times, making Mentana one of the best-known TV hosts in Italy.

TG LA7

After his experience at TG5, he moved to TG La7, the newscast hosted on the privately owned channel La7. He became its director in 2010.

Awards and honors

In 2002, Mentana married the model and actress Michela Rocco di Torrepadula, with whom he had two children, Giulio and Vittoria. They divorced in 2013.