La Stampa columnist Filippo Ceccarelli has since suggested that its publication on the Internet site is evidence of the prime minister's decline in popularity.
Despite being financed largely by advertisements from the pornographic industry -- an aspect that may make puritans cringe -- Dagospia cannot be ignored.
By appealing to Italians' lust for voyeurism, intrigue and scandal, and by operating outside the control of the authorities, Dagospia has turned into a highly influential source of information and into an unprecedented media success story.
"I am the most ferocious gossip in the world," D'Agostino says proudly.
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