A journalist asked why Israel is not paying for the reconstruction of Gaza. He was then kicked out for this question. “He embarrassed the agency”
The Italian news agency Nova has confirmed that it fired reporter Gabriele Nunziati for asking a European official about Israel during a press conference, The Intercept writes.
“If Russia has to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, will Israel have to pay for Gaza?” This is the question asked on October 13 by the journalist Gabriele Nunziati to the spokeswoman of the European Commission, Paula Pinho. The answer is vague, the video of the exchange is being reposted on social media and is causing controversy. About ten days later, the journalist is fired, writes the Italian site Fanpage.it.
The agency Nunziati worked for responded, “The question was completely inappropriate and erroneous” and caused “embarrassment to the agency.”
“After my request, I received phone calls from my superiors. The tone was quite tense. Then came the letter terminating our employment relationship,” the journalist reported.
How the press agency justifies the dismissal
In response, the news agency reported that “the problem is that Russia – a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and as such one of the five guarantors of world order – invaded Ukraine, a sovereign country, without provocation. Israel, on the other hand, suffered armed aggression. Therefore, it is not surprising that the spokesperson did not answer the question, because it was completely inappropriate and erroneous. The difference between the positions of Russia and Israel was explained several times to the collaborator, who, however, did not understand the substantive and formal difference between the situations and insisted that the question was correct, thus demonstrating his ignorance of the fundamental principles of international law.
Worse still, the video of his question was reposted and shared by Russian nationalist Telegram channels and media linked to political Islam with an anti-European agenda, embarrassing the agency, which is a primary source very careful about its independence and the objectivity of the information it disseminates. It is clear that the relationship of trust with the collaborator has ended in this context.”
Criticism of the agency
The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemn the dismissal of the journalist and criticize the news agency Agenzia Nova for censoring Nunziati, preventing him from carrying out his work freely.
The IFJ-EFJ expresses its concern about the deteriorating state of press freedom in Italy. “Criticizing a journalist for asking uncomfortable questions based on verified and confirmed information is deeply shocking and a flagrant violation of fundamental principles of press freedom. We strongly condemn Nova's decision to end cooperation with Nunziati for simply doing his job. At a time when journalism is struggling to maintain its independence, newsrooms must support their journalists, not betray them for I am fulfilling my duty to the public.”
