Broadcaster RAI has denied accusations of censorship and said that it’s remodeling into “a contemporary digital media firm.”
Journalists at Italian public broadcaster RAI have staged a one-day strike, accusing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing authorities of stifling freedom of expression.
The Usigrai journalists’ union says the state of affairs has worsened since Meloni took workplace on the finish of 2022.
“We might moderately lose a number of days of pay than lose our freedom,” Usigrai, the union representing about 1,600 of RAI’s 2,000 journalists, mentioned in a video defending Monday’s 24-hour strike.
Usigrai highlighted staffing issues, saying retiring workers usually are not being changed whereas some journalists languish on momentary contracts.
“We now have all the time fought in opposition to any try and muzzle freedom of expression, however I wish to make it clear that what has been occurring in latest months is unprecedented,” mentioned Vittorio di Trapani, RAI journalist and director of the Nationwide Press Federation. Italian (FNSI). ) instructed the Reuters information company.
RAI dismissed the complaints, accusing the unions of organizing a politically motivated strike and saying the corporate had not imposed any censorship on its workers.
Regardless of the strike, the principle lunchtime information applications on RAI’s two principal tv channels went on air as regular, whereas its twenty fourth information channel, RAI24, largely broadcast pre-recorded programming.
As a public broadcaster whose prime administration is elected by politicians, the independence of RAI (which has a prime-time tv viewers share of round 39 p.c) has all the time been a subject of debate.
The rise to energy of Meloni, who shaped a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League occasion and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia, has redoubled issues.
Italy’s rating within the World Press Freedom Index, drawn up by media watchdog Reporters With out Borders (RSF), fell to forty sixth place this yr, 5 decrease than in 2023, amid issues concerning the rising authorities affect on the media and a latest collection of lawsuits filed. by politicians in opposition to journalists.
The difficulty of censorship on the station made headlines final month when a monologue by author Antonio Scurati, timed to coincide with commemorations marking the top of the fascist regime in 1943, was abruptly canceled by RAI.
Scurati, who has written historic novels about Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, used the piece to criticize Meloni’s occasion for not repudiating its post-fascist roots.
RAI officers and Meloni denied censoring the monologue, and the prime minister later posted the treatise on her personal Fb web page.
In its personal video assertion, RAI administration claimed there was “no censorship” and claimed it was making an attempt to remodel the broadcaster right into a “trendy digital media firm.”
