He worked for 25 years as a journalist in various national newspapers.

After studying Contemporary History at the State University of Milan and attending the “Carlo De Martino” School of Journalism, in 1996 he began his career as a political reporter at the Ansa Agency in Montecitorio.

In 2000 he was hired at the political desk of “Repubblica” and a year later he moved to the Roman editorial office of “La Stampa”, where he followed domestic and international politics, from the French elections to the G8 in Genoa to the attacks of September 11. For two months he reported from New York on the terrorist attack on America and its consequences.

In 2002 he returned to “Repubblica” as central editor-in-chief, first as deputy and then as manager from 2004. In this role he contributed to the transition from traditional paper journalism to a newsroom that worked continuously and was responsible for organizing partnerships and collaborations with other international newspapers. At the end of 2006 he moved to New York, where he followed the entire 2008 election campaign that brought Barack Obama to the White House.

In 2009 he became director of “La Stampa”, the youngest in the 150-year history of the newspaper. He achieved total integration between paper and digital; completely rethought the spaces and work flows (creating the first museum of a newspaper); contributed to founding the Europa project; worked with Google to create the Digital News Initiative and the Amp standard and launched a daily newsletter.

In January 2016 he returned to “Repubblica” as director, and remained there for three years, focusing on digital journalism, launching the Rep app and Facebook live in Italy. He made the newspaper weekly with the introduction of thematic inserts, including the new Sunday cultural magazine “Robinson”; he carried out a complete graphic restyling and bet on new products such as documentaries and podcasts as well as on long-form journalism and photography.

He has also written six books. The first – “Spingendo la notte più in là” – tells the story of his family, of his father Luigi Calabresi and of the consequences of terrorism on the victims and on Italian society during the years of lead. Translated in France, Germany and the United States, it has sold over half a million copies and was first in the ranking of best-selling books in Italy. The latest book, published in 2019, is entitled “La mattina dopo”.

Currently, Mario Calabresi dedicates himself to writing and experimenting with new forms of journalism, from podcasts to newsletters.