Press Freedom: where Italy should learn from UK
I have always been very critic against the italian press, mostly because I’ve always thought (and I still do) that the “BelPaese” one is not a free press.
From the fake interviews to the articles that defends the power (political or economical, it doesn’t matter) to the complete silence on some issues: italian press is a shadow of what the information should be. Free, before anything else.
On Beppe Grillo’s blog I have read another shocking news about the violation against the Press Freedom in Italy. A journalist has been badly threated for some “outrageous questions” he asked to one of most criticized italian senators. Mr Andreotti, prime minister more than once in the post world war II Italian Republic, has been judged guilty for Mafia Collusion, but the italian law let this go in prescription. He is therefore free, but the journalist, Mr Piero Ricca, dared aking Andreotti some details of the sentence against him.
He has threated badly from Mr. Andreotti’s bodyguards and from the Italian Police too! He has been also arrested for some hours. A policeman told him: “Now I am the law. I am the judge“, as they were in a B-Serie american movie! Does the police has the power to intimidate a man in this way? Does they be able to elevate theirselves to the figure of Polica, Judge and Court? Since when?!?!? It is a Shame! Is this the freedom a “civilized nation” like Italy reserve for their journalists?
The bad story didn’t ended there, because many other journalists reported against Mr Ricca, some of them telling he was a “provocator”, some other that he started a “verbal fight” against Andreotti! Isn’t this a Real Shame? Isn’t this a reflection of the fact that the journalism writes what the “powers” want?
Yesterday I have followed an interview, on a UK television channel, in which the journalist questioned a man from Thames Water, the water company of London. Thames Water is told to be the major responsible for the water crisis here in London, because of the wastes of water. The fact is that Thames Water has grown, this year, of more than 5% in the capital gains! The Jounalist pointed at the fact that Thames Water has lowered the money for the research & development, and now there is a water crisis! The journalist didn’t accept the vague answers the man from the water company, asking to be precise, asking to have clear answers on Why the population has to pay a lot of money in order to reamin without water, even if the water company ig giving away a lot of capital gains! He also pointed out that too many times Thames Water allow weeks of leakage before fixing them, even in this crisis!
He has been direct, asking questions the Thames Water representative wouldn’t have liked. But he did! He asked the question the population would have asked, pretending for the answers!
In Italy this doesn’t happens! When Berlusconi was asked direct questions from Lucia Annunziata, he left the trasmission, accusing the journalist to be a Communist! I’m sorry to name him so often, but the truth is the truth, and the Freedom should be the Freedom.
The Press Freedom in Italy is something that does not exists, but italians seems unable to comprehend this!
I have been told a little story that clearly sum the Italian situation about the Press Freedom (and the Freedom in general)
Take a frog, and put it in a pot full of boiling water: it will jump out immediately! But take a pot with cold water inside, drop the frog in and then turn on the fire under the pot… the frog will not jump out and it will adapt to the heat untill it will too late, and the frog will be cooked alive!
What a Shame!
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