Amidst Italy’s deteriorating environment for media and journalists, the International Press Institute (IPI) and other Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners unveil their latest mission report. In May 2024, the MFRR members conducted an urgent mission in Rome, followed by a series of online meetings. During this time, the MFRR discussed the state of press freedom in the country with Italy-based journalists, regulators, civil society groups, and lawyers. The conversations highlighted an alarming contraction of media freedom and pluralism, as well as journalists’ freedom to do their job.

Media freedom in Italy has been steadily declining in recent years, marked by unprecedented attacks and violations often initiated by public officials in the attempt to silence critical voices.

Political interference in public media and the systematic use of legal intimidation against journalists by political actors have long defined the media-politics relationship in Italy. However, these dynamics have reached alarming levels over the past two years.

In the lead-up to the 2024 EU elections, amidst a rapidly deteriorating context, the partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) conducted an urgent mission to Rome, Italy, on May 16-17, 2024.

The mission aimed to engage with state representatives, institutions, and political parties on three critical issues: political interference in public media, legal harassment of dissenting journalists, and the potential acquisition of AGI, one of the country’s main news agencies.

This report presents the findings from the mission and MFRR’s ongoing monitoring, offering a comprehensive analysis of the three most urgent issues identified. It evaluates the impact of various measures and bills introduced by Italian decision makers, in light of the latest EU provisions aimed at ensuring the independence of public media, countering market concentration, addressing conflicts of interest, and equipping the judiciary to handle vexatious lawsuits.

The report also provides detailed recommendations for Italian institutional and governmental actors, outlining necessary steps to counter the decline in media freedom and  much needed reforms.

The publication was produced by Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT), and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) with contributions from partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), including IPI. MFRR is a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors, and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.