Italy's media watchdog AGCOM has
reprimanded RAI public broadcaster for inadequate coverage of a
campaign leading up to an April 17 offshore oil drilling
referendum that flopped, Media Oversight Committee Chair Roberto
Fico, who is from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S),
said Thursday.
"AGCOM issued harsh criticism of RAI reporting quality on
the drilling referendum," he wrote on Facebook.
The referendum was requested by coastal regions and
environmentalists concerned over offshore platforms' harmful
effects on the marine ecosystem on which Italy's fishing and
tourist industries depend.
The government urged voters to boycott it so it wouldn't
reach the necessary quorum.
Fico pointed out that leading talk shows such as Agorà and
Unomattina gave wrong or misleading information about the
referendum.
"They diminished its national importance and failed to live
up to standards of impartiality and correctness," he said.
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