Mattarella: “The press cannot be subject to censorship”. Nordio: “Secrecy of conversations is the other side of freedom”

“Information is a vehicle of freedom”, “the press cannot be subjected to censorship”, “journalists have an enormous responsibility” and “the intimidation of reporters is intolerable”. Concepts contained and reaffirmed in the message that the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarellahe sent to the event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Order of Journalists.

The press cannot be subject to censorship

“The good of information enjoys explicit constitutional protection. Article 21 of the Charter, in stating that ‘everyone has the right to freely express their thoughts by word, writing and any other means of diffusion’ – and this concerns every citizen – underlines the value of the press as a medium, indicating that ‘it cannot be subject to authorization or censorship’ – reads the message from the Head of State – Information is a vehicle of freedom and it is no coincidence that the same constituent assembly wanted to approve a law on provisions on the press, which traced, after twenty years of gag, a path back to independence for the media”.

Journalists have a huge responsibility

For Mattarella “the role played by journalistic work in enlivening the constitutional norms then found protection, with the implicit definition of intellectual profession and the recognition of the essential function performed by independent journalism in making the exercise of the rules of democracy effective, in the Gonella law , which regulated the organization of the profession in 1963. We draw from those fundamental rules which still today specify the nature of rights and duties: ‘the freedom of information and criticism is an irrepressible right of journalists, limited by the observance of the rules of laws dictated to protect the personality of others and their inalienable obligation is to respect the substantial truth of the facts.Herein lies – he continues – the enormous responsibility that belongs to the journalistic profession.A responsibility accentuated by the multiplication of sources of information offered by the revolution of the web “.

In the message, the President of the Republic then writes that “first of all, the journalistic profession is entrusted with the role of expressing free criticism according to the duties of loyalty and good faith. Journalists, in this context, are entrusted with the relevant task, for the purposes of the free formation of citizens’ opinions, respect for the substantial truth of the facts.
Here is the value of the definition of the professional autonomy of every journalist and of the self-government of the category which is entrusted, as for any other professional order, with the essential and precious function of defending deontology”.

Intolerable attacks on those who provide information

“The challenges that the world of information is called upon to meet, starting from the applications of artificial intelligence, cannot ignore the respect for the fundamental standards established for the profession by the Gonella law – continues Mattarella – The global market with which we are called to deal in the information society it needs robust guarantees, such as those offered at the European Union level by the proposals put forward in the preparation of the media freedom act.Respect for the professional activities of journalists is an essential component of our system of freedom. intimidations of which their work is still sometimes the object are intolerable for the Republic”, he concludes.

Nordio: don’t censor journalists for confidential information but whoever allows the diffusion is to blame

“If a journalist publishes confidential news on a judicial investigation, it is not the fault of the journalist who should not be charged or censored. The fault lies with those who allow the dissemination of this news and do not monitor enough – these are the words of the Minister of Justice instead Charles Nordio, speaking at a debate organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Order of Journalists – The free press is one of the pillars of democracy. It must combine its prerogative with respect for the dignity and freedom of citizens, which can be violated by violating the secrecy of their conversations.
The secrecy of conversations is the flip side of freedom.”

Nordio: the secrecy of conversations is the other side of freedom

For the Keeper of the Seals “the free press is one of the pillars of democracy. It must combine its prerogative with respect for the dignity and freedom of citizens, which can be violated by violating the secrecy of their conversations.
The secrecy of conversations is the other side of freedom”. “Freedom of the press consists in the fact that there are many newspapers, of different ideas and that the citizen can choose and form his own opinion after having confronted himself with the opinions of others . The more the media are overflowing with different titles, the more free the press is”, affirmed among other things the minister, who addressed the audience as a “former colleague”, given that for 25 years he wrote editorials and on the third pages of several newspapers, activity interrupted with his entry into the government.