President Sergio Mattarella on
Tuesday said publishing houses defend freedom while promoting
culture and rights and are key to Italy's democracy during a
meeting with the Italian Association of Publishers.
"The numbers are significant" with "over 5,000 publishers, big
and small", said the head of State.
"There is great variety and what publishing houses have in
common is that they are a stronghold of freedom and promote
culture and rights - an indispensable element of our democracy",
he noted.
Mattarella also recalled the "over 70,000 new releases each
year" and the "160 million books bought in a year" - a number
which "will hopefully grow even though, unfortunately, it is not
homogeneous between areas of our country", adding that he hoped
such differences will be overcome.
While stressing the importance of the role played by books for
young people, the president recalled that the danger of
"sterilizing thoughts reaffirms the importance of the book as a
stimulating element".
And "thought is a fundamental need because it is required to
govern the tools of AI.
"Without a thought that is adequately developed the influence
between the two sides would be reversed", noted the president.
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