We'll force papers to publish financiers - Toninelli

(ANSA) - Rome, September 14 - Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said Friday the government would force newspapers to divulge the names of all those who fund them.
    Toninelli is a leading figure in the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) which has vowed to make media funding transparent and uncover allegedly biased interests.
    On Monday Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio, the M5S leader, blasted Italian newspapers' coverage of the government and said legislation is on the way to ensure media organs are not seeking to further hidden economic interests.
    "The operation to discredit this government continues without rest," Di Maio said on Facebook.
    "The newspaper publishers have their hands in the pasta everywhere in State concessions: motorways, telecommunications, energy, water.
    "The order to attack the M5S with any type of falsehood and conjecture came from the owners.
    "This is no longer free journalism.
    "It is necessary to have a law to ensure the publishers are pure (of other economic interests) and the journalists are free to do investigations".
    The M5S has frequently claimed that interests close to the centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) are behind many newspapers.