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“Silent today to be able to speak tomorrow”, runs the headline on L’Espresso’s website. The Roman weekly, like the majority of Italian papers today, is on strike to protest the government’s controversial anti-wiretap law. “The web-site will not be updated to observe a day of silence against the “gag-rule,” L’Espresso explains, in several international languages, English included. According to PM Silvio Berlusconi, the bill, forbidding the publication of wire tap conversations before the parties concerned go to trial, aims to safeguard privacy. As the bill is debated in the lower house of parliament, a majority of Italy’s journalists, judges and prosecutors argue that it is a shield for politicians and a smokescreen for their wrongdoings.
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