Stories and News

Stories and News No. 212 Today is a special day for Italian journalists. The National Italian Press Federation announced for July 9 2010 a silent strike to protest against Berlusconi Government wiretapping bill. Here's how the federation press release starts: “The Italian journalists are called to a unique form of protest that is expressed in a "noisy" silence information on Friday 9 July, against the rules of wiretapping bill that severely limited the right of citizens to learn how the judicial investigations proceed, inflicting major disruption on the free circuit of the news.” The initiative has received massive adhesion, almost complete. I will not enter the diatribe on strike and no strike. Besides, if I say no, even if also with Marco Travaglio, I risk of being in agreement with Berlusconi Newspaper’s director Feltri, and I get hives just to think about it. Anyway, I'm not a journalist. I write and tell stories. Yet, there was a time when I had the desire to be...

Stories and News No. 174 I have ever been convinced that the real power of Berlusconi's government on the one hand lies in its ability in communicate itself to the people - with the advantage of television monopoly, of course - and on other in never effective critics by opponents. For example, think about the wiretapping bill devised by the brilliant mind of the Italy Justice minister Angelino Alfano . Yesterday in Senate the committee has approved a picturesque amendment to the decree is called gag law ( legge bavaglio ) by its detractors. In summary, the amendment provides this: to capture a phone call there must be serious evidence of crime; the wiretapping are possible for suspected users that, based on specific acts of investigation, are aware of the facts for being prosecuted . The wiretapping must be absolutely essential to the continuation of the surveys and visual footage must be made in places that belong to suspects, always based on specific acts of investigation, who ...