Bad News from Italy. Ossigeno review – 16 to 23 September 2023

From Ossigeno per l’Informazione, monitoring centre on intimidation and threats to journalists and blacked-out news

OSSIGENO 24 September 2023 – This week Ossigeno discusses about: Alberto Locatelli, Enzo Primante, Elian Lo Pipero and the daily Giornale di Sicilia. See details on www.ossigeno.info

The list of journalists physically attacked recently in Italy while doing their work is shocking. This week alone we reported the cases of Padua, Palermo and Chieti to which we add, again in Palermo, the case of the wall slogans against the reporters of the Giornale di Sicilia, accused of being “violent journalists” after the publication of the names of those suspected of sexual violence against a girl.

It is clear that journalism that does its job in the interest of all citizens annoys some pretentious individuals and should be protected better and more, as Ossigeno has been suggesting for some time, just as was done for doctors and nurses when there were increased attacks against them. Unfortunately the world does not always automatically change for the better and regulatory interventions are required if we do not want to leave the field open to bullies and violent individuals. When situations get worse you have to have the honesty and courage to say so, as Gianluca Amadori, former president of the Veneto Journalists’ Association, did in recent days, admitting that his  Northern region is no longer a peaceful place (read here) .

In fact, all sorts of things are happening and according to some it would be better not to let people know. Well, concealing  the symptoms of an illness is very bad, a way of fooling yourself. But it is a widely applied practice, for example in monitoring intimidation and threats in Italy. Whilst  Ossigeno lists 759 of them (with name and surname) other monitoring see only 10, or 45 or 76, and declare it without worrying about their appearing less than credible. The president of Ossigeno per l’Informazione pointed this out on September 21^st 2023 in a meeting promoted by GMDF UNESCO, that took place in Gothenburg (Sweden) during the Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC) . Consideration of these discrepancies has begun. It was also discussed on Monday 25^th September at the Casa del Jazz in Rome (during the training seminar (in person and online) promoted in collaboration with the Order of Journalists of Lazio that was attended by hundred journalists. Ossigeno published  the data of the first semester of 2023 and recounted  some stories of colleagues who were victims of intimidation (see here).

IN MEMORY OF ITALIAN JOURNALIST KILLED

A letter remembers Giancarlo Siani killed 38 years ago by the Camorra

Initiatives to remember Mauro Rostagno killed 35 years ago by the mafia

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