The journalist and music critic Ernesto Assante has died at the age of 66.
As reported Rockol, of which he was also a collaborator, the journalist died today.
He was a journalist, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “La Repubblica”, author and television and radio host. He is the founder of “Repubblica.it” and “Kataweb”. Artistic director of the Medimex and Collisioni festivals. He began his journalistic activity in 1977, collaborating with the Workers’ Daily.
In 1978 he collaborated as a music critic for Il manifesto, for which he wrote until 1984. In 1979 he began writing for “La Repubblica”, where he was music critic and editor-in-chief. He was director of McLink and Kataweb. He was a collaborator of the Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, for the entries concerning popular music. He taught Theories and techniques of New Media and Analysis of musical languages at the Sapienza University of Rome, Music Journalism at the Journalistic Criticism Master at the Silvio D’Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts and collaborates at the Saint Louis Club House.
In 1975 he started with the radio in Rome International Sound. Then, again in 1975, and until 1982, he worked with Radio Blu, one of the first rock stations in the capital. He began working at Rai in 1980, at Rai Radio 1, with “La civiliza dello spectacular”, then he collaborated on the Filodiffusione channels and then, in 1982, at Rai Radio 3, when he began to host Uncertain discourse and then Pomeriggio Musicale, before moving on to “Stereonotte”, where he was host from 1983 to 1987.
In the following years he hosted several broadcasts on Italia Radio. From 2010 to 2017 he was host with Gino Castaldo of Playlist on Radio Capital.
On the same broadcaster he hosted the Sunday program Sunday Afternoon with Mary Cacciola until the summer of 2018. Since the autumn of 2018 he has hosted, again on Radio Capital, Newsroom, on Saturday and Sunday mornings, with Antonio Iovane, and Assound, the Monday evening. His publications on rock, jazz, blues, reggae and Italian music are numerous.
The latest book was published in Lucio Battisti, Mondadori 2023.
The WECB editorial team’s deepest condolences go to his family and all those who knew him.
ph: Credit: Luiss.it
