Campobasso: a reporter insulted at Regional Council

During a council session Rita Iacobucci of Primo Piano Molise was insulted and pushed by a visitor who did not want to be filmed. Solidarity expressed by the Order of Journalists.

The journalist of Primo Piano Molise , Rita Iacobucci, was insulted and jostled in Campobasso, during a session of the Regional Council of Molise, on October 22^nd 2019.

Iacobucci was filming a tense moment in the council chamber regarding the protest of the workers in vocational training, when one of them, Pietro Sacco, lashed out at her, ordering her not to film him and not to distribute any image.

“You sold yourself! – the man shouted at her – You take the money from these here, the councillors”. These words were accompanied by some jostling. The scene was witnessed by many people and recorded by a video-camera. Other journalists present in the courtroom approached the reporter of Primo Piano Molise to reassure her, while the man, visibly agitated, was identified and accompanied out by security. Rita Iacobucci formally reported the incident the following day, October 23^rd to the Campobasso police.

The Order of Journalists of Molise expressed solidarity with the journalist, denouncing in a press release that the working conditions of reporters are precarious even within a state building.

“Criticism serves to improve but I do not discuss matters with those who raise their voices, launch accusations that are outlandish and proceed to physical action – commented Rita Iacobucci to Ossigeno. – The right to report in Italy is protected by the laws and article 21 of the Constitution. Moreover – she concluded – if the issue of the workers in vocational training has not yet been resolved, it is not the fault of journalists “. Then, on October 29^th 2019, she accepted the apology of her attacker.

Andrea De Tommasi