European Parliament
President Antonio Tajani said Monday he was "proud" to be a
journalist after leaders of the ruling anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement (M5S) called Italian journalists "prostitutes, hacks"
and "low-down dirty jackals" because of allegedly biased
coverage of the trial of Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi who was
cleared of lying over an appointment on Saturday.
"I'm proud of being a journalist. Without a free press,
democracy does not exist," said Tajani.
"There are worrying signs in Europe against the freedom of
information.
"The European Parliament rejects all threats to journalists
and recalls the sacrifice of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia and
#JßnKuciak.".
Italian House Speaker Roberto Fico, an M5S bigwig, meanwhile
said that the freedom of information would "always" be
protected.
The M5S also said it would introduce legislation to crack
down on so-called 'impure media owners', that is publishing
groups who have alleged conflicts of interest and allegedly
pursue their own agendas to the detriment of accuracy.
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