What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
Berlusconi also owned several leading Italian newspapers and the Italian soccer club AC Milan from 1986 to 2017.
CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage and the first all-news television channel in the United States, and provided the template for all future 24-hour livestream news networks.
Hearst eventually established nearly 30 papers in major American cities. He also published magazines and created the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world. Credited with developing yellow journalism (newspapers that use eye-catching headlines and sensationalized and often lurid exaggerations for increased sales), Hearst was the inspiration for Orson Welles' character, Charles Foster Kane, in 'Citizen Kane' (1941).
In 1916, Beaverbrook purchased the Daily Express, then the largest circulation newspaper in the world. He subsequently founded the Sunday Express and later acquired the London Evening Standard and the Glasgow Evening Citizen.
Joseph Pulitzer later joined the Democratic Party and was elected congressman from New York. However, he remains best known for the Pulitzer Prize, established in 1917 and given annually to recognize and reward excellence in American journalism, photography, literature, history, poetry, music, and drama.
James Gordon Bennett Sr. was born in Scotland but emigrated to Canada in 1819. He moved to New York City in 1823 and by 1835 had founded the New York Herald. Bennett is regarded as a major figure in the history of American newspapers.
Frank Gannett is best known for founding the media corporation Gannett Company. Gannett is today the largest US newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its flagship title is USA Today.
A name venerated in the history of American journalism, Henry Luce was the founder of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated magazines—publications that transformed journalism and the reading habits of millions of Americans.
Bezos purchased the Post in August 2013 for US$250 million... in cash!
Social media's other notable name is Elon Musk. Among his many business interests is ownership of X Corp, the company that operates the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Zuckerberg's parent company Meta Platforms operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services, and ranks among the largest American information technology companies.
Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baron Burnham was an early influence in the British newspaper industry. He was the owner and publisher of The Daily Telegraph. The name of the paper was a reference to the new technologies being deployed in the newspaper industry in the 19th century.
Alfred later sold the Mirror to his brother, Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere. Harold Harmsworth is also credited with developing tabloid journalism. Today, the Mail and the Mirror are two of the UK's most highly circulating newspapers.
Levy-Lawson's father was Joseph Moses Levy. He established a printing company near Fleet Street in London and by 1855 was chief proprietor of The Sunday Times.
In 1896, Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe launched The Daily Mail in London. He also founded The Daily Mirror, in 1903. In doing so, he became an early pioneer of popular journalism.
Bennett handed control of the Herald to his son, James Gordon Bennett Jr., in 1867. Bennett Jr. raised the profile of the newspaper considerably. In 1880, he established international editions of the publication, in Paris and London. Their successor is The New York Times International Edition, previously known as the International Herald Tribune.
Hungarian-American Joseph Pulitzer purchased the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 and merged it with the St. Louis Evening Post to create the St. Louis Post and Dispatch. He later published the New York World, a newspaper that became a leading voice of the Democratic Party.
A legendary figure in the history of American media, William Randolph Hearst began his career in newspapers after being handed control of the San Francisco Examiner by his father in 1887.
American publisher Frank Ernest Gannett began his career in 1906 as half owner of the Elmira Gazette. He eventually established a major chain of daily newspapers in small and medium-sized US cities.
Canadian-British newspaper publisher William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a hugely influential figure in British media and politics during the first half of the 20th century.
His publishing empire was such that Luce became one of the most powerful media figures of his era. In 1931, he ventured into radio, launching the popular series 'The March of Time,' before developing the same format for movie theater newsreels.
Rupert Murdoch is an Australian-born American business magnate and media proprietor, and one the richest, most powerful, and most controversial press barons of the modern age. He began his career in 1952, taking over the reins of The News, a small Adelaide newspaper owned by his father.
Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including the UK's The Sun and The Times newspapers and The Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US. He owns book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News (through the Fox Corporation). Murdoch recently retired as chairman of News Corp, passing the role onto son Lachlan.
At the height of his powers, equally controversial billionaire media tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi owned three of the main TV channels in Italy and indirectly controlled RAI, the country's national public broadcasting company through his own government (he served as prime minister in four governments).
In 1980, American entrepreneur, television producer, and media proprietor Ted Turner cofounded Cable News Network (CNN) with television executive Reese Schonfeld.
Michael Bloomberg is a name synonymous with business news. Bloomberg cut his teeth heading equity trading and, later, systems development at Salomon Brothers.
After Salomon Brothers, Bloomberg set up a data services company named Innovative Market Systems, renamed later as Bloomberg L.P. This financial data-services firm today includes a news agency (Bloomberg News), a global television network (Bloomberg Television), websites, and radio stations (Bloomberg Radio).
Jeff Bezos is known as the man who founded Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. But he's also owner of The Washington Post, one of the most highly regarded newspapers in the United States.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg makes this list by virtue of the fact that he's one of the great pioneers of social media (Facebook was created in February 2004, three months prior to this photograph).
As a social networking service, X is used by journalists and news gatherers worldwide as a source of breaking news and real-time quotes, often posted by influential figures, including world leaders and celebrities.
Sources: (The Conversation) (Britannica) (The Guardian)
See also: What happens when you quit social media?
Read all about it! History's most powerful media barons
The media moguls who control the press
LIFESTYLE Press
Some of the most powerful and influential figures in business are media moguls and press barons. These individuals, who also rank among the world's wealthiest people, own newspaper and magazine publishing groups, television and radio networks, and, of course, social media platforms. Mass media plays a significant role in providing the public with information and awareness about emerging issues and concerns. Those who control it are therefore entrusted with a huge responsibility in making sure facts are delivered in an objective and impartial manner. But who are history's most prominent news media players? Click through and read all about it.