Media News - Friday, April 17, 2009
Italy state TV fires cartoonist for quake drawing
One of Italy's most popular cartoonists has been fired
by state television company RAI for an anti-government drawing deemed
offensive to victims of last week's earthquake. Vauro Senese's dismissal on Wednesday sparked an angry reaction from the
center-left opposition which branded it censorship underscoring the grip
that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has over Italy's media.
The cartoon appeared on current affairs program Annozero, whose coverage
of the authorities' handling of the earthquake has been attacked by
ruling politicians since it was aired last Thursday.
As well as firing Senese, RAI Director General Mauro Masi, who was
recently appointed by Berlusconi'a parliamentary majority, ordered the
program's anchorman Michele Santoro to 're-balance' his coverage in this
Thursday's program. The cartoon, aimed at government plans to ease restrictions on home
extensions to boost the economy, featured an exhausted grave digger
standing over a line of coffins under the caption 'Increasing the cubic
meters ...of the cemeteries.' Santoro, a left-winger who has clashed with media tycoon Berlusconi in
the past, interviewed people who said rescue plans in the quake-prone
area could have been better and criticized some aspects of the relief
effort. Berlusconi, who owns Italy's main private television network Mediaset
and as prime minister has indirect control over RAI, has shown
increasing annoyance with the press in recent weeks. (Reuters)
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