Ten candles for FIRSTonline which turns 10. It was the morning of 23 May of the 2011 when with FIRSTonline a new and independent voice economic and financial information online. A somewhat adventurous birth, because of a sudden strike by the staff of the glorious Italian Press Office di San Silvestro Square in Rome, where the new magazine had its headquarters, forced the small group of pioneers of FIRSTonline to look for a makeshift landing place in the Prati district for a few hours to send the first issue of the web journal online.
10 years have passed since then, but it seems like a century, because the pandemic has tragically turned the world upside down, killed more people than a war and changed the lives of all of us, even if the hope of returning, with vaccinations, to a new normal it has finally rekindled and for this too we will always have to be grateful to the Draghi government. Had there not been the cursed Covid and the inevitable restrictions of him, FIRSTonline would have organized a big party to blow out its first ten candles. But even so, the tenth birthday fills us with joy and pride.
We promised to make aeconomic and financial information professionally rigorous but clearly out of the core and adverse to fake news and the reality of FIRSTonline is there to prove it. Who said quality and independence are a luxury on the web? Without large capitals behind us and with our own strength alone, creating a site against the tide and above all keeping it alive and constantly renewing it has not been and certainly is not a walk in the park, but so far we have done it. We are among the very rare independent newspapers with accounts in order, we pay all taxes on time, we honor our employment contracts every month and we have no debts: some of us work for free as a choice of life and civil commitment, but it is a sacrifice that is worth taking on because – beyond any rhetoric – doing good journalism is a way to help enliven and strengthen our own democracy.
"FIRSTonline is the best of the economic analysis sites" wrote in his book "The things we don't tell ourselves" (to the end) the former director of Corriere della Sera and Sole 24 Ore, Ferruccio de Bortoli, and his judgment honors us and makes us proud.
But, in addition to the passion, professional commitment and independence of those who bring FIRSTonline to life every day, what was and what is the secret of a difficult but unexpected success that can be counted in millions of monthly visits and in a continuous authority growth? It can be summed up in three words: an unmistakable identity, a clear editorial format and a sustainable business model.
The FIRSTonline Identity is made up of five ingredients: theindependence by the economic and political power and by all the lobbies and corporations that cage Italy, thereliability of information, the competence with which the issues on the table are addressed, the quality with which the themes themselves are selected and treated, the creativity which pushes to pack a product that is never banal and never taken for granted in which rigor must not be confused with dullness and boringness.
The editorial format which underlies the affirmation of FIRSTonline, both in terms of diffusion and authority, is instead based on the clear choice of a vertical and specialized site and not of a generalist site and even less of a passive news aggregator, but also on a mix between economic and financial information in real time, but avoiding the flood of news that rages on the net, the service information which must be understandable in a simple and clear, but not approximate way, even for less expert readers e in-depth information which, through comments and exclusive interviews with the protagonists of public life and that unique jewel that are the hands of the economy each month, allows everyone not only to get to know the reality that changes at the speed of sound but above all to understand it. Economy and finance are and remain the heart of our information but without ignoring the connections with politics, culture, art, sport and the magical world of food, to which we have dedicated special showcases.
Finally the business model. The past decade has seen the proliferation of sites, web journals, blogs, but no one has really found – at least in Italy, where the language barrier really counts – the magic formula for combining qualityinformation and economic profitability. And it's no wonder that many sites, even if announced with great fanfare, have had to surrender earlier than expected to the harsh law of the market or have accumulated very heavy losses.
From the beginning AL Publishing initiatives, the publishing company that publishes FIRSTonline, has focused, in the absence of public aid neither requested nor received, on two fundamental levers to make the company sustainable: the dealer and corporate subscriptions. It turned out to be a winning bet, but without the passion and dedication of all the editorial staff, collaborators, technicians and management who make up the entire team we would never have made it. Thanks to everyone, thanks also to the members, subscribers, advertisers, and first of all thanks to the readers who have placed their trust in us for 10 years and who push us towards new goals.
