There is no tradition of controlling the (media) controllers in Italy. This is due to a self-referential model of journalism, or “polarised pluralist” model of the relationship between media and politics, typical of the Mediterranean (Hallin & Mancini, 2004).
The main association fostering debate on watchdog journalism in Italy is Articolo 21 [Article 21] (the name refers to the Constitutional article dedicated to freedom of expression), whose president Paolo Borrometi is a young Italian journalist threatened by the organised crime association also known as mafia. Another specific initiative on the safety of journalists is the journalistic association Oxygen for Information, which launched an Observatory on intimidations, threats, abuses, undue pressures on journalists, or violations of the right of information.
Columns in important daily newspapers, such as Giovanni Valentini’s in Il Fatto Quotidiano and Vincenzo Vita’s in Il Manifesto,foster media debate on journalism. Only one Italian journal is specifically dedicated to journalism studies: Problemi dell’informazione [Information Problems], edited by Il Mulino. Recently, Newsguard, an American company focusing on trust in news, has started activity in Italy, evaluating the most important online news outlets according to international criteria, and releasing some special issues on disinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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