26 September 2007

Media and bullets

I am really surprised by the reaction of the journalists and the opinion-givers to V-day on 8 September.
A comedian organises an event to collect signatures for a proposed popular law and more than 300,000 citizens participate in a single day.
That has never happened in the history of the Republic.
Then Beppe Grillo suggests civic lists without the presence of convicts and he invites citizens to go along to the meetings of the Town Council. All stuff that is in accordance with the laws of the State.
The next day, the politicians, who had up until then ignored the people of the Internet, in the hope that they would not disturb those who manoevre, have been trying to belittle the message, even by discrediting it. But it has to be said, the politicians, apart from a few unfortunate opinions, have not really gone overboard and in certain cases they have even agreed with Grillo’s criticisms.
But not the journalists. Almost all of them whatever the publication they work for, have described Grillo as the anti-Christ. It’s embarrassing for me to listen to them while they are loading on the insults against the people who went out into the streets, pouring scorn on them and giving Grillo labels like fascist or terrorist. The feeling is that V-day was organised against them, not against the parties and they are trying to defend themselves.
The use of words like bullets is a new form of terrorism created by journalists when out in the streets and the squares we saw just Italian citizens of all ages queuing up in orderly lines. It’s a character assassination that I don’t like. If anything were to happen, it is the ones who are conjuring up the image of bullets that will have to bear the responsibility.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information