Italy: Meloni blames the press for fake news – Three left-wing newspapers are to blame – 2024-08-07 14:58:58

Italian Giorgia Meloni has a problem with the domestic press.

As warnings mount from European Union institutions and observers about the state of Italy’s media, the Italian prime minister has gone out of her way to insist there is no problem with press freedom. Instead, he says that journalists who say there is a media crackdown are manipulating the truth.

Both sides are at loggerheads over the EU executive’s annual report on the rule of law, which found the country’s independent media is under threat. Following its publication, Meloni hit back with a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, claiming her group had been the victim of “fake news”.

The Italian prime minister later attributed the report’s critical remarks to three main left-wing newspapers who acted as “interested parties” and falsified the Commission’s findings.

Read also: Von der Leyen buries report on Rule of Law in Italy in pursuit of Meloni’s vote

“Who are these stakeholders? Domani, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Repubblica”, he said in front of the cameras.

Italian right-wing newspapers immediately followed suit by publishing a list of so-called “anti-Meloni” journalists.

“We have entered a new, more dangerous phase,” Francesca De Benedetti, editor-in-chief of the Domani newspaper, told POLITICO, adding that journalists “are being described as the aggressors.”

“We have been described as the enemy and the problem is that this paves the way for a hate campaign,” he said.

After Meloni’s comments on Tuesday, media freedom groups denounced disinformation campaigns by pro-government media outlets and highlighted the danger of creating lists of journalists deemed anti-government.

“The logic of the ‘anti-Meloni journalists’ is very reminiscent of the ban lists, an unacceptable practice that, unfortunately, still brings us to ground zero: the illiberal deviation that some would like Italy to follow,” the leaders said in a statement of FNSI, the Union of Italian Journalists.

Both Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have repeatedly denied accusations that the government is undermining press freedom.

Tajani, whose Forza party is part of both Italy’s governing coalition and von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party family, argued that there was no violation of press freedom in Italy as “everybody says what they want “.

Responding to those who warn of dangers to the rule of law in the country, he insisted that they “don’t know the Italian situation”.

“Democratic Deviation”

A series of serious incidents since Meloni took office, however, has fueled concern among observers of democratic backsliding.

In June, Meloni called on Italian President Sergio Mattarella to intervene after undercover journalists from online media outlet Fanpage secretly filmed people from the youth wing of Meloni’s far-right Fratelli d’Italia party making fascist, racist and anti-Semitic comments. While the Italian leader accused Fanpage of using “establishment methods” to selectively target her party, Fanpage defended its journalistic methods.

Read also: Freedom of the Press: Greece remains last in the EU – RSF ranking for 2024 published

Last month, journalists at Italy’s state broadcaster RAI went on strike to protest what their union called “strangling control” by the government. The union claimed that Meloni’s administration was “trying to turn RAI into a government mouthpiece”. Both RAI and the government have denied the allegations.

Domani’s De Benedetti said the debate over RAI’s independence exemplified a wider downward trend in media freedom since Meloni took over. In recent years, the Meloni government has brought multiple defamation lawsuits, most notably against Domani and journalist Roberto Saviano.

“We at Domani were the first to experience these attacks, but now the situation has reached enormous proportions,” he said.

This year, Italy fell five places in Reporters Without Borders’ annual Global Press Freedom report, falling to 46th place. Poland, Hungary, Malta, Albania and Greece were the only other countries in Europe to score lower.

Recorded violations of media freedom – such as physical attacks, harassment or psychological abuse, attacks on property, censorship and legal incidents – have increased in Italy since the Meloni government took office, according to the Freedom Rapid Response Report of the media (MFRR).

From October 2022 to June 2024, 193 incidents were reported, up from 75 in the previous 22 months. Over a quarter of these involved actions by government or public officials.

The MFRR said Meloni’s strong reaction to their report confirms its findings.

“At the moment, in Italy there is no place for critical journalism because, as soon as you express critical ideas, you become the target of verbal attacks and smear campaigns, mainly by those in political power,” said the MFRR.

The Observatory also hit back at claims that the report was written by the journalists themselves.

“The journalists were in no way co-authors of the report,” the MFRR said.

Eyes on von der Leyen

Media freedom groups called on the European Commission to step up its efforts and strengthen its role in protecting media freedom in Europe.

In a joint letter to von der Leyen in July, 26 organizations asked the Commission president to ensure that media freedom, the protection of journalists and access to public interest journalism remain high political priorities for her.

But it seems those priorities are not at the top of von der Leyen’s to-do list.

In June, von der Leyen tried to slow down the Commission’s Rule of Law report criticizing Italy while seeking Rome’s support for a second term as European Commission president, drawing the ire of media organisations.

“No bargaining with the fundamental rights enshrined in the EU treaty! The [Ευρωπαϊκό Λαϊκό Κόμμα] had failed completely with him [Ούγγρο πρωθυπουργό Βίκτορ] Orban – they or von der Leyen must not make the same mistake as Meloni or others!” wrote Renate Schroeder, director of the European Federation of Journalists, in X.

Domani’s De Benedetti was equally pessimistic about the prospect of Brussels intervention.

“The European Commission does what it does not see, as it did with Orban. Now he is making the same mistake as Meloni,” said De Benedetti.

“But in the case of freedom of the press, there have been so many episodes that it is undeniable that there are issues. I hope that the Commission will respond”, he said.

A Commission spokesman told POLITICO on Monday that Brussels would respond to Meloni’s letter to von der Leyen “in due course,” adding that it would continue to “cooperate with all member states in the concrete follow-up” of her recommendations.

Πηγή: Politico – Meloni vs. the Italian press

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