Italy / Europe & Central Asia

  
An Italian police officer is seen on May 23, 2017. A journalist's car was recently burned in Sicily, in a case that police have linked to their journalism. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)

Journalist’s car burned in Italy

Unknown perpetrators set fire to the car of Gaetano Scariolo, a reporter at the daily Giornale di Sicilia and the Agi News Agency, on May 10, 2019, in a case that police have linked to Scariolo’s journalism, according to reports by the journalist’s employers.

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An Italian police officer is seen on October 31, 2018. Police recently arrested seven men who assaulted a journalist in Vicenza. (AP/Andrew Medichini)

Italian journalist assaulted, robbed while reporting in park

On April 2, 2019, Valentino Gonzato, an Italian reporter with the daily newspaper Il Giornale di Vicenza, was assaulted by a group of seven people while reporting in Fornaci Park in Vicenza, a city in Northern Italy, according to his employer.

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Women rest on a ship run by the Maltese non-governmental group Moas and the Italian Red Cross after a rescue operation in the Mediterranean in November 2016. In Italy, journalists say they are regularly harassed and threatened online over their coverage of migration issues. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

Italy’s migrant beat beset with smear campaigns, harassment

When Annalisa Camilli spent eight days on an Open Arms ship that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean, she knew her reporting for the Italian news magazine Internazionale may attract trolls. Camilli has covered the migrant beat for years and this was her second trip with the non-profit rescue operation. But, the reporter said, she was…

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Roberto Saviano seen at the 69th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin on February 12, 2019. Saviano is facing criminal defamation charges issued by Italy's interior minister. (Annegret Hilse/Reuters)

Italy’s Matteo Salvini pursues criminal defamation against journalist Roberto Saviano

Berlin, March 29, 2019 — The Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, should immediately drop criminal defamation charges against freelance investigative journalist and author Roberto Saviano, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Members of the Italian far-right political party Forza Nuova wave flags during a demonstration on November 4, 2017, in central Rome. On January 7, 2019, members of Forza Nouva and other extremist groups attacked two reporters covering an event in Rome. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

Italian journalists harassed and assaulted by far-right extremists

Berlin, January 8, 2019–Italian authorities should quickly and thoroughly investigate the harassment and physical assault of two Italian journalists by a group of far-right extremists and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Customers read Italian dailies La Repubblica and La Stampa in Rome on March 3, 2016. Italian police searched a La Repubblica journalist's home and seized electronic devices on September 13, 2018, in Palermo. (AFP/Gabriel Bouys)

Italian police search journalist’s home, seize electronic devices

Berlin, September 19, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an Italian prosecutor’s order to search the home of Salvo Palazzolo, a journalist for the daily newspaper La Repubblica, and seize the journalist’s electronic devices. On September 13, Italian police in Palermo, Sicily, seized Palazzolo’s mobile phone, tablet computer, and three hard drives during the…

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Andrea Rocchelli's passport is photographed on May 25, 2014, the day after his death. (AFP)

Italian police arrest Ukrainian man accused of killing photojournalist

New York, July 6, 2017–Italian authorities should fully investigate and prosecute all those responsible for the 2014 death of Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli in Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Balancing Act

Press freedom at risk as EU struggles to match action with values The European Union strives to be a global leader in press freedom but faces challenges from member states that have criminal defamation and blasphemy laws, and have introduced counterterrorism measures, including mass surveillance. The EU has made press freedom imperative in negotiating with…

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Balancing Act

About this report The report examines how the European Union upholds its commitment to press freedom in its interaction with member states, international bodies, and strategic partners. It examines the impact that repressive legislation in member states has on journalists, how calls for wider surveillance and governance in the wake of recent terror attacks risks…

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Balancing Act

Summary The European Union describes itself as a model for press freedom and an exemplary global power. Although many of its 28 member states feature at the top of international press freedom rankings, there are significant challenges that undermine press freedom and new threats are emerging.

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