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Is Press Freedom about to be Limited in Italy?

Not too long ago, in fact just after Berlusconi won the elections, I spoke to a journalist who works for a major Italian newspaper, and this journalist told me that he and many of his colleagues were worrying about clamp downs on press freedom in Italy. Well, it’s looking as though this hack’s fears were […]

An Investigative Journalist

Where I am often to be found, which also happens to be the HQ of one of Italy’s major newspapers, I often bump into a nice chap who happens to be a form of investigative journalist. The last time I met this guy, we chatted about an article he had written on the misappropriation of […]

Pots Calling Kettles Black

As you may imagine, Italy is suffering from a minor bout of election fever at the moment. The general elections are just around the corner and election posters are appearing right, left, and centre. I’ve seen a couple of amusing ones, so far. First there was this lovely one from the Berlusco-Fini duo which, much […]

Italy has No Government…well, not quite

Cara Jo, a fellow blogger from over the pond, was a little disappointed to see that I had not written about Italy’s current state of non-government. Well, I’ve decided to attempt to explain the current political situation in Italy.

Clemente Mastella is Innocent!

It’s true, Mastella, Italy’s former justice minister who has come under all sorts of accusations for wrong doing, really does believe that he has done nothing wrong. His wife is also under investigation for suspected bribery. UPDATE below – this case has recently flared up once more – October 22, 2009.

Turning Round La Brutta Figura

Italy is a very image conscious country – just wander down any Italian street and you will see beautiful shops and elegantly dressed passers by. The places and people are examples of ‘la bella figura’ – which means ‘creating the right impression’. The opposite of the ‘bella’ version is ‘la brutta figura’, which is similar […]

The Thread Finally Snaps

It’s a laugh a minute in this politically challenged country which is Italy. Clemente Mastella, the former justice minister who is now facing allegations of corruption, is not at all happy.

Mastella Resigns, again

Only this time, Prodi decided to accept Mr Mastella’s offer. It sounds as though someone reminded Mastella that it does not look all that good for a government to have a Justice Minister who is under investigation for corruption. Then again, maybe Mr Mastella found out that the allegations against him (and many of those […]

Further to my previous post…

…my, Italian, other half has clarified the magistrates versus politicians thing, I am, almost, pleased to say. Apparently, the non-political magistrates are, in reality, political. This means that there are those who like Mr B who go after Mr Prodi’s cronies, and then there are those who think Prodi’s the bees knees and thus ‘investigate’ […]