Analysis
Meloni’s attack on the press put her at odds with allies abroad
MEP: ‘When the Prime Minister mentions particular names and newspapers, she pits the whole weight of her office against them, and in a democracy, politics should not be attacking information outlets.’
At this point, Giorgia Meloni might end up destroying the anomalous status her government has benefited from: unlike those of Silvio Berlusconi, the current Italian Prime Minister seems to have enjoyed relatively high esteem on the international stage, thanks to her Atlanticist orientation and the good graces of Ursula Von der Leyen. However, her latest missteps and the publishing of the Rule of Law Report might yet sour things.
On the fourth day of her China trip, she felt the need to stress that everything was going well: “I don't see any negative repercussions for Italy. I don't think relations with the European Commission are getting worse.” Then she spoke about the letter she wrote in reaction to the report’s criticism about press freedom and the risks of the constitutional reforms: “It’s not a response to the European Commission,” she argued. ”It’s an overall reflection on how a technical document has been exploited, in whose text – I must recall – the criticisms are not from the European Commission, but from certain parties who have an interest, let’s call them stakeholders.”
At this point, she slipped back into her old ways, mentioning some of the newspapers she considers to be “of the opposition” (Il Domani, Il Fatto Quotidiano, La Repubblica): not exactly a good way to show her commitment to press freedom. “I understand the attempt to exploit,” Meloni said. ”That is, I know all about the attempt by the Italian left to seek outside help. It is obviously very unhappy that it cannot use, for example, public media outlets as if they were a party branch, but I can’t do anything about that, because I believe in the freedom of information and the freedom of the press.”
“What just happened has a name: it’s a blacklist,” protested Sandro Ruotolo, a member of the European Parliament and information policy officer in the national secretariat of the PD. ”When the Prime Minister mentions particular names and newspapers, she pits the whole weight of her office against them, and in a democracy, politics should not be attacking information outlets. The press must freely inform public opinion and must put politics in the hot seat.”
According to Angelo Bonelli from the Green-Left Alliance, “Meloni is leaving out the fact that her former spokesman, Sechi, is now the editor of Libero, which is owned by Antonio Angelucci, who also owns Il Giornale and Il Tempo. In a shocking coincidence, Angelucci is also a deputy for the majority.” Some of Angelucci's own newspapers have put together lists of reporters who allegedly besmirched the government's good name before the EU (on which Radio Popolare is featured as well). According to the Green Europe spokesman, “Giorgia Meloni's aggressive reaction highlights the fact that Italy increasingly resembles those illiberal countries where the press is brought to heel by the government.”
Giuseppe Conte added: “I think it’s inappropriate for her to reinterpret Brussels’ positions. She should respond point by point and try to remedy matters.”
“She told me that when she comes back, we’ll talk about everything,” assured Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
There is the question of the person to be nominated for Von der Leyen’s European Commission, but the most urgent matter the right has to deal with is the RAI situation: the appointments must be finalized before the summer recess, which will come the following week, putting all parliamentary work on hold.
The resignation of RAI President Marinella Soldi created a serious problem. Under current law, her successor must be approved by two-thirds of the RAI supervisory board. In addition to the four board members which will be voted in by Parliament, there are two more board members to be nominated by the Economy Minister, and then the shareholders' meeting and the Board of Directors must convene to ratify the new staff. Then, the joint parliamentary oversight authority must express its approval. In the past, there have been times when this whole rigmarole could be accomplished in a few days.
But to do so, the right conditions must be set up. And Meloni's words aren’t helping.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/rapporto-diritti-ue-per-difendersi-meloni-attacca-i-giornalisti on 2024-07-31