He was known for his meetings and interviews with important figures, including Pope Francis,[1] Enrico Berlinguer, Aldo Moro,[2] Umberto Eco,[3] Italo Calvino, and Roberto Benigni.

"[7] In July 2021, about his lasting friendship with Calvino, which included discussions around books, the first girls, the exchange of letters, the evenings at the pool table, and the National Fascist Party Saturday marches, he recalled: "My adolescence began when I was fifteen in Sanremo: I think back to that age of life as I leaf through the Meridian which collects my books.

[12] After his law graduation, Scalfari resumed his journalistic career in 1950 and worked for the influential post-war news magazines Il Mondo led by Mario Pannunzio and L'Europeo of Arrigo Benedetti.

[13]: 290, 980  The experienced Benedetti, who had directed L'Europeo (1945–1954), was the first editor-in-chief until 1963, when he handed over to Scalfari,[15] who served as the administrative director and collaborator for the economy of L'Espresso until 1962.

Scalfari called some trusted colleagues, including Gianni Rocca [it], Giorgio Bocca, Sandro Viola [it], Miriam Mafai, Barbara Spinelli, Natalia Aspesi, and Giovanni Valentini [it].

[14] Few believed such a venture could succeed in the already crowded Italian newspaper market; under Scalfari's skilful editorship, La Repubblica prospered to the point of rivaling the prestigious Corriere della Sera in both sales and status as a national daily.

He also published a number of books including the 1969 work L'autunno della Repubblica ("Autumn of the Republic") and the 1998 novel Il labirinto ("The Labyrinth").

[13] With Bernard Guetta, Scalfari had also tried to form a European newspaper based on an alliance between Italy's La Repubblica, France's Le Monde, Spain's El País, and Britain's The Independent.

[25] Additionally, he valourized the paper's female journalists,[26] and wrote an article, titled "Feminine at Heart", for D – la Repubblica delle donne [it].

[13][14] In May 1967, along with Lino Jannuzzi, he uncovered Piano Solo, the attempted 1964 coup d'état led by the general and then Commander-General of the Carabinieri, Giovanni de Lorenzo [it].

[30][31] In the wake of this investigative reporting, the PSI offered him a seat as a member of Parliament, a position he held from 1968 to 1972, with disappointing results, as he himself recalled.

[35] In 2018, Scalfari wrote an article related to his interview with Pope Francis stating that the pontiff made claims that Hell did not exist.

He wrote that "Enrico Berlinguer had a somewhat similar role in Italian politics (and not only) to the one Pope Francis is having today in the Catholic religion (and not only).

Both followed a path of reformism so radical as to produce revolutionary effects; both were loved and respected even by their adversaries; both had a charisma that grasped reality and fueled a dream.

"[52] After the acquisition of La Repubblica by John Elkann in April 2020, Scalfari warned the paper not to move away from its liberal-socialist positions, which he described thusly: "I have always believed in a liberal socialism, capable of uniting equality and reformism ... at the forefront in guiding the country and Europe in this direction.

From the end of the 1970s, Scalfari was romantically linked to Serena Rossetti, former editorial secretary of L'Espresso and later of La Repubblica, whom he married after the death of his first wife.

[65] Among others, the paper's editor-in-chief Maurizio Molinari,[44][66] the paper's owner John Elkann,[67][68] La Stampa editor-in-chief Massimo Giannini [it],[69] La Stampa and La Repubblica journalist Ezio Mauro,[70][71] Democratic Party politicians like Enrico Letta and Walter Veltroni,[72][73][74] and the paper's journalists and readers paid tribute to Scalfari,[75][76][77] as did all major Italian institutional figures,[78] and international figures like Bernard Guetta and France's Le Monde,[79] as well as Spain's El País.

[82] A popular journalist who revolutionized the profession in Italy,[63] for his collaborator, Paolo Mauri [it], "[Scalfari's] great revolution was to put literature, art, the debate of ideas at the centre, even physical", of La Repubblica.

"[86] Lucio Caracciolo [it], the founder of the geopolitics magazine Limes, described La Repubblica as an absolute monarchy, with Scalfari as its enlightened king, and praised him for his way to handle important personalities with his charisma.

"[88] In the 1950s, Scalfari was the author of some publications of a political-economic nature that appeared in the series "Convegni degli amici del Mondo" (Rapporto sul neocapitalismo italiano; Potere economico in Urss).

[5][6] He was the author of numerous books, ranging from philosophical, historical, political, and religious works to novels, including L'autunno della Repubblica (1969),[13][14] Razza padrona (1974, co-authored with Giuseppe Turani [it]),[6] Interviste ai potenti (1979), Come andremo a incominciare (1981, co-authored with Enzo Biagi),[6] L'anno di Craxi (1984),[14] La sera andavamo in via Veneto.

Storia di un gruppo dal "Mondo" alla "Repubblica" (1986),[24] Incontro con Io (1994), Alla ricerca della morale perduta (1995), Il labirinto, narrazione esistenziale a sfondo filosofico (1998),[13] La ruga sulla fronte (2001), Articoli (2004), Dibattito sul laicismo (2005),[14] L'uomo che non credeva in Dio (2008), Per l'alto mare aperto.