A public celebration of World Press Freedom Day will be held on 10 May in the Italian parliament in Rome with a focus on improving journalists’ protections.
The title of the meeting with senior politicians and journalists is “So much Mafia, so little news” and it is promoted by “Ossigeno per l’Informazione” with the patronage of UNESCO. It will take place in the most prestigious hall of the Italian Parliament, the Sala della Regina of the “Camera dei Deputati”.
This is the fifth year that Ossigeno is celebrating this important event in this way.
The speakers include journalists, Members of Parliament, representatives of publishers, trade unions, inter-governmental organisations, public institutions at the national level, NGOs, media organisations, academia and lawyers.
The opening speech will be given by the Honourable Roberto Fico, President of the Camera dei Deputati.
Among other speakers are: Senator Pietro Grasso, former President of Senate; Marco Del Mastro, Director of Statistics at AgCom (the Italian Authority for Communications); journalist Marilu Mastrogiovanni (jury member for the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize), journalist Maria Grazia Mazzola (who was assaulted while reporting on the Mafia) and Fabrizio Petri, President of CIDU (the inter-ministerial committee for Human Rights.).
Ossigeno will provide new findings on gender-based threats against journalists. It will also release the special report “So much Mafia, so little news” based on the recent Fact Finding Mission in Italy carried out by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) with the support of the European Commission (DG-Connect). This report explains the Italian system for protecting journalists, how it works, what are its weaknesses and the merits that make it (according to UNESCO’s Media Director) one of the best in the world. The report also formulates new proposals to extend protection and strengthen the safety of professional reporters.