Newspapers, as well as the EU, are
trying to bring the government down, Deputy Premier and Labour
and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said Sunday.
Di Maio voiced the hope that left-leaning La Repubblica,
especially, would go to the wall having announced, he said, job
losses amid falling readership.
La Repubblica editor Mario Calabresi hit back in a front-page
editorial Monday saying the daily was top for Web readership,
reports of firings were false, and it would "continue to tell
the truth".
Di Maio is leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement
(M5S), in government with the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League.
The M5S on Sunday called La Repubblica "the daily of deceit".
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