Quoting Roberto Saviano—Oct. 2 2009—Italy demands answers, not smears and threats
An extraordinary protest in support of press freedom will mark growing concern over Silvio Berlusconi’s grip on the media
San Giovanni in Laterano, dicembre 2006
Anyone in Italy today who criticises the Government or the Prime Minister knows what to expect in return — not a contrary opinion, but a campaign aimed at discrediting him.
San Giovanni in Laterano, dicembre 2006
He knows that the price for continuing to ask questions and expressing opinions will be paid with his own skin. Anyone who takes a critical stand knows to expect retaliation. For this reason in Italy today press freedom means the freedom not to have your life destroyed; the freedom not to have your career cut short.
San Giovanni in Laterano, dicembre 2006
[…] Italy is second only to Colombia in the number of people needing police protection. And it holds a European record: in the past three years 200 journalists have been intimidated or threatened, and many have ended up under police protection.
San Giovanni in Laterano, dicembre 2006
[…] Those, like me, who have seen how the world works when power is unlimited know that if certain barriers are breached there is no guarantee that the flood waters of arbitrary power will not overwhelm everything. But I believe, or rather I hope, that we will overcome our differences and demonstrate that we can give our best when common interests and shared principles are at stake. I want everyone on October 3 to remember what the value of press freedom is. It must no longer be the case that expressing yourself means paying with your soul, your body, your blood. That is freedom of the press.
San Giovanni in Laterano, dicembre 2006
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Roberto Saviano
In his writings, articles and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra (a powerful Neapolitan mafia-like organization), exposing its territory and business connections. [ Wikipedia ]
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Behind the story
80 per cent of Italians get their information from television. Mr Berlusconi has built his political career on mastery of TV and marketing. He owns Mediaset, which controls Italy’s three main commercial channels, and as Prime Minister has direct influence over appointments and policy at RAI, the public broadcaster. Mediaset stations have glossed over or suppressed Mr Berlusconi’s alleged involvement with escort girls and showgirls that in any other Western country would be top of the news. But so too has RAI.
[…] Newspapers, too, operate in a climate of intimidation, even menace. Both La Repubblica and L’Unita are being sued by Mr Berlusconi, the former simply for publishing a daily list of ten questions about his conduct, from his unexplained attendance last April at the 18th birthday of an aspiring Naples model to allegations that he spent the night of Barack Obama’s election with a prostitute.
Politics has always pervaded every aspect of Italian life. But dominance of both politics and the media by one man means — as Roberto Saviano points out — that those who dare to ask awkward questions are met not with counter-arguments but personal attacks designed to silence them. In a leading European democracy that is cause for concern.—Richard Owen [ Timesonline ]
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San Giovanni in Laterano, dicembre 2006
text extract [ Timesonline ] October 2, 2009
picts by [ dewil.ch ] (cc) Rome, December 2006
