Petrolio e televisione. Il piccolo schermo nella rivista dell'Eni "Il gatto selvatico"

Italy’s recovery after the Second World War also involved industrial reconversion and the birth of new industries, including the petroleum industry. Thanks to the work of Enrico Mattei, the Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI) was founded in 1953, and it quickly became one of the pillars of the Italian economic miracle. ENI was also one of the first Italian industrial groups to innovate its internal and external communication methods. It did so through the use of all available communication tools: cinema, radio, television, posters, gadgets, prize contests and internal magazines. Among its various house organs, the magazine «Il gatto selvatico» (The wild cat), edited by the poet Attilio Bertolucci (1955-1963), played a primary role. The poet ensured that this magazine was in step with the times, thanks to prestigious collaborations with intellectuals and men of the entertainment world. The columns of «Il gatto selvatico» included one dedicated to television, which flanked the cinema page. The editor was well aware of TV’s increasingly powerful role in society, so he called on an important intellectual, Enzo Siciliano, to write about it. This article analyses the television criticism that appeared in the magazine, identifying its nuances and the intersections between corporate and intellectual life.