∗Translated by Forgacs, David.Google Scholar

1. Neural networks are artificial structures composed of nodes (neuroids) interconnected by a flexible architecture. Traditional computers handle information in the form of a numerical code whereas neural networks organize connections between neuroids in a way not unlike that of the human brain. Another peculiarity of neural networks is their ability to ‘learn’, i.e. to interpret interconnections between neuroids. In practice neural networks (particularly those based on analogue chips) operate on the basis of context and contextualization of data while the architecture of traditional information systems breaks up data to produce results that can be operationalized.Google Scholar

2. There is also a cultural consideration. The digitization of verbal and visual messages constitutes a rupture with the traditional functions of writing and, above all, of journalistic writing. In online journalism this trend is more accentuated. The new function of journalistic writing is a political question, like all questions about language and its ‘usability’.Google Scholar

3. The reti civiche are networks promoted and/or run by local administrations and associations. They are open to the most disparate activities in a given area and offer concrete services aimed at enabling users to exercise their rights of citizenship to the full.Google Scholar

4. See Pedemonte, Enrico, Personal Media, Bollati Boringhieri, Turin, 1998.Google Scholar

5. Roidi, Vittorio and Piersanti, Andrea, Giornalisti nella rete, Ente dello Spettacolo, Rome, 1998, p. 12.Google Scholar

6. The reform of entry qualifications also requires new journalists to have done a practical placement of at least 18 months’ duration organized jointly by the Istituti di formazion e del giornalismo (IFG—the training colleges of the Ordine dei Giornalisti), newspaper companies and universities. This reform is part of the wider reform of the Italian university system which, starting in the academic year 2001–02, is now based on three-year first degree programmes followed by two-year specialized degrees at postgraduate level, with a complete reorganization of teaching and courses.Google Scholar

7. Even if one limits one's analysis of this trend to the information sector proper, the global data are not encouraging. The American financial information site TheStreet.com <http://www.thestreet.com>, which made $1.37 billion between 1996 and 1997, had a $9 million deficit by 2000. Microsoft's online newspaper, Slate, never managed to take off. Among the newspapers which require payment of a subscription (we have already mentioned the failure of USA Today) only The Wall Street Journal <http://www.wsj.com> is in profit. In Italy, where the still limited number of experiments in electronic information are free to the user, only Il Sole-24 Ore has a paid element (with unsatisfactory results to date).,+which+made+$1.37+billion+between+1996+and+1997,+had+a+$9+million+deficit+by+2000.+Microsoft's+online+newspaper,+Slate,+never+managed+to+take+off.+Among+the+newspapers+which+require+payment+of+a+subscription+(we+have+already+mentioned+the+failure+of+USA+Today)+only+The+Wall+Street+Journal++is+in+profit.+In+Italy,+where+the+still+limited+number+of+experiments+in+electronic+information+are+free+to+the+user,+only+Il+Sole-24+Ore+has+a+paid+element+(with+unsatisfactory+results+to+date).>Google Scholar

8. Valentini, Giovanni, Media Village, Donzelli, Rome, 2000, p. 34.Google Scholar

9. Giaccardi, Chiara, et al., Il paese catodico. Televisione e identità nazionale, Franco Angeli, Milan, 1998.Google Scholar

10. Some researchers claim that technological systems (and online newspapers are based on complex technological systems) have a diversifying impact on identity formation, in contrast to cultural systems. The former present themselves as means of survival and reproduction in which ‘the signal component, the calculated univocality of the message, is prevalent’; cultural systems, on the other hand, have a strong symbolic component, namely ‘the ability to enclose in one sign a stratified variety of meanings’ (see Gallino, Davide, Il libro delle telecomunicazioni : le nuove regole del gioco. Rischi e opportunità del mercato aperto, Adnkronos, Milan, 1998. However, one can also claim that personality and environment are interconnected and complementary, like keys and locks. Personality, in this metaphor, is a key looking for the right lock, while environment (including other people) is a lock waiting to have a chance to be used. The theories of Vera, A.H. and Simon, H.A. (‘Situated action: a symbolic interpretation’) and of Greeno, J.G. and Moore, J.L. (‘Situativity and symbols: response to Vera and Simon’, both articles are in Cognitive Sciences, 17, 1993), together with the psycho-social concept of affordance, can be used to analyse the social meaningfulness of online newspapers and more generally of the information system distributed over the Internet.Google Scholar

11. Newspapers, radio and television increasingly cite information from online sources or ‘official’ company or institutional websites, thereby establishing them as primary sources.Google Scholar

12. Sorice, Michele, L'industria culturale in Italia, Riuniti, Rome, 1998, and Colombo, Fausto, La cultura sottile, Bompiani, Milan, 1998. Colombo provides a lucid map of the Italian cultural industry, setting out the salient features of the ‘four phases’ of the production of the imaginary in Italy. Online newspapers, clearly, are ‘instruments of product distribution’ whose success depends on the ‘response of the real public as a means of validating the product’. For the relation between information, culture and technological development, see the ‘butterfly model’ proposed by Colombo in his article in this issue of Modern Italy.Google Scholar