NUJ backs Italy press freedom drive
THE NUJ has joined sister unions in a campaign by Italian journalists against attacks on press freedom by the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who dominates the country’s state and private broadcasters.
He has been criticised for political interference in the public broadcaster RAI and for attacks on journalists who have questioned the impact of his private life on public affairs.
Jim Boumelha, president of the International Federation of Journalists and a member of the NUJ national executive, said: “The condition of journalists and media in this country has been threatened for years, but the recent use of Mr Berlusconi’s economic and political power to intimidate journalists and muzzle the media simply goes beyond any acceptable limits of democracy.”