That’s press,baby! Let’s talk about it…
Published on
Story by
Laura Ci
Italy is considered to be a “civilized”, “democratic”, “open” and “tolerant” country by many people, that much more than other countries respects human, civil and political rights.
For this very reason, together with few other countries, we claim the right –even the obligation- to meet in various summits and alliances –all of whom have bombastic names- so as to discuss and decide upon the fate of the rest of humanity, so as to define and face its problems and to stimulate economic development. We are the luckiest, the most “developed” and we assume that all desire to achieve our level and live, as we do, in the best of all worlds. Thanks to the complicity of polluted information from the media, we have long ago stopped wondering about such “outspoken”, presumed truth. And especially about the strong contradictions that derive from it. For example, how is it possible that being as civilized and respectful as our Constitution states we still lack a law on the right of asylum (nowadays provisionally substituted by the so-called Bossi-Fini)? How can we judge the “level of democracy” of other countries if we push to the border all the “clandestine” and “desperate” that run off –from the lack of rights that we, too, want to counteract at their homes with the help of bombs…(or international agreements?) Which are the units of measurement of civilization? Which are those of democratisation and freedom of a country? It may be an impossible evaluation…and so let’s restrain to “perception”. What is the sign that tells us that we are freer as well as more respectful to rights? If the great majority of media dedicates almost all the time that news regarding immigration takes to criminality, emergency and drama, we should wonder what the principles and values that our work and role are when dealing with public opinion. We, citizens, will have to wonder. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has already done it with the proposal of a new deontology. The answer would probably be: “we, too, have to work”, “there’s the readers’ crisis”, “we ought to create an audience and take the readers’ attention”, etc, etc, etc. Yes, of course…that’s the press, baby. But, let’s talk about it…!