Freedom of the press in Italy
Part of a series on |
Freedom |
By concept |
By form |
---|
Assembly |
Other |
Censorship |
Freedom of the press is a constitutional right in Italy, secured in 1947. After the fall of Benito Mussolini's fascist regime in July 1943, freedom of the press spread slowly from Rome, first to southern Italy and eventually to the north, where it was resisted in northern Italy by the ruling pro-Nazi Italian Social Republic. The Italian government was forced to surrender its monopoly on broadcasting with the advent of cable television. Since the establishment of the constitution there have been at least two major events of violence associated with this freedom.
Contents |
History
The House of Savoy (1861-1922)
- See also: Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
Art. 28. - The press shall be free, but a law shall prevent abuses. All bibles, catechisms, liturgical and prayers books shall not be published without the prior permission of the Bishop.
Fascist era (1922-1945)
- See also: Censorship under fascist regimes
The resistance and Allied encouragement
Allied troops liberated Rome in 1944. A surge of political activity followed, previously suppressed by fascist censorship. Formerly forbidden dissident ideas began to be printed in small home newspapers, printed using rotary printing presses and openly distributed or passed from hand to hand around cities and the countryside.
The Italian constitution
The end of the twenty-year fascist era meant the end of repression of many types of civil liberty, including freedom of the press. This provided an important background to the constituente working on the new constitution. Backed by a strong will from the Italian people, the majority of the constituente saw freedom of expression as a cornerstone of the new democratic Italian Republic. There was broad agreement between moderate and progressive forces. Due to the conservative Catholic majority mindset, the constitution restricted freedom of expression for indecent events, publications and public behaviour (such as nudism).
The practical result of this was a limited freedom of press. The right to publish texts, and especially political texts, books and magazines was maintained, but there was strict limitation of the right to publish obscene books, images, radio speeches, films and drama.
The Italian Republic was formed in 1947 and the constitution was approved in the same year. This was a period full of discussion and fighting between the extreme right- and left-wing political parties. The Catholic Church acted as a mediator as well as attempting to defend Christian morality and family values. The Church also tried to ensure equal access to information as well as allowing differing political views. Remnants of the fascist groups resisted these changes.
Article 21 of the Italian Constitution concerns the freedom of all people to voice their opinions openly and legally. It states the circumstances when authorities have the right to censor and how this should be applied.
All have the right to express freely their own thought by word, in writing and by all other means of communication.
The press cannot be subjected to authorization or censorship.
Seizure is permitted only by a detailed warrant from the judicial authority in the case of offences for which the law governing the press expressly authorizes, or in the case of violation of the provisions prescribed by law for the disclosure of the responsible parties.
In such cases, when there is absolute urgency and when the timely intervention of the judicial authority is not possible, periodical publications may be seized by officers of the criminal police, who must immediately, and never after more than twenty-four hours, report the matter to the judicial authority. If the latter does not ratify the act in the twenty-four hours following, the seizure is understood to be withdrawn and null and void.
The law may establish, by means of general provisions, that the financial sources of the periodical press be disclosed.
Printed publications, shows and other displays contrary to morality are forbidden. The law establishes appropriate means for preventing and suppressing all violations.
—The Constitution of the Italian Republic, Title I, Part I, Article 21
Article 21 and broadcasting
There were political forces which wanted to restrict the new freedom of expression. They created a new state-owned monopoly in television broadcasting, and justified it by saying there was a limited number of broadcast frequencies, which made competition impossible. The RAI was the only broadcasting company until the 1980s when Silvio Berlusconi created a second, private company.
The two companies were used by their owners to show their views on the freedom of expression. The two main political parties, the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party, formed a coalition to try to gain a state monopoly on television. The minority Italian Republican Party, which had 5% of the vote, played a key role in stopping this move. It wanted freedom of transmission.
The turning point was the advent of cable television. The state could no longer claim there was restricted airspace. Telebeilla's thirty-fifth anniversary was marked by a parliamentary debate. A video recorded message by the minister Paolo Gentiloni was broadcast which said cable television had forced the government to address the issue. The constitutional court noted a large difference between the two groups. They emphasised that the political reasons cited by the Christian Democrats and Italian Communist Party were inconsistent. The government, lead by Giulio Andreotti, was forced to change their view due to a lack of support.
Limitation of freedom of the press
Mino Pecorelli
In 1979 Mino Pecorelli, a political journalist, announced he had several incriminating documents in his possession. Pecorelli was the editor-in-chief of the political gossip and investigation magazine . The documents allegedly contained facts which could end the career of an extremely influential politician with the initials G.A.. On 20 March 1979 Pecorelli was assassinated. It was speculated that G.A. referred to the prime minister Giulio Andreotti, one of the heads of the Christian Democrat Party. 12 years later, Andreotti was tried for other charges and was given absolution due to insufficient evidence for his suspected links with the Italian Mafia. In 2006, Giulio Andreotti was Berlusconi's alliance candidate for the Italian Presidency.
Giancarlo Siani
was a journalist from Naples, who wrote in the magazine Osservatorio sulla camorra, and later for , the principle newspaper of Naples. He was assigned to the local area editor of Castellammare di Stabia. Siani was killed 23 September 1985 by , the local mafia, following an investigation about their leader . Gionta controlled all aspects of in the southern Italy region of Campania.
References
- Come ti sei ridotto. Modesta proposta di sopravvivenza al declino della nazione (1ª ed.), book by . Economici Feltrinelli, (2006). ISBN 8807840685
- . (1ª ed), book by and Marco Travaglio. BUR Rizzoli, (2006). ISBN 8817009431
- Scritture civili. Conversazioni sul nostro tempo, book by . Editore Ombre Corte, 2006. ISBN 8887009880
- Europa in fondo a destra. Vecchi e nuovi fascismi, book by Massimiliano Melilli. Editore DeriveApprodi, 2003. ISBN 8888738010
Filmography about the freedom of press in Italy
- Rome, Open City, 1944 film, directed by Roberto Rossellini.
- Forza Italia!
- Viva Zapatero!
See also
External links
- The Italian Constitution - translated into english
- Freedomhouse site studying the freedom of press around the World (Italy is partly free)
- LKV.it: come gli stranieri valutano la libertà di stampa in Italia
- OLD: Osservatorio su Legalità e Diritti
- RSF: Libertà di stampa? L'Italia è al 40° posto, dopo Cile e Corea del Sud
- Reporters Sans Frontieres website
- Mediaset TG-COM: l'Italia è al 79° posto come indice di libertà di stampa
- Risorsetiche.it metaportale di informazione indipendente