In Italy, a far-right MP wants to take over the country’s second-largest press agency

On Thursday, April 11, for the second time in a week, dispatches from Agenzia Giornalistica Italiana (AGI) did not appear on the news feeds of Italian newsrooms. Employees of this news agency, the second largest in Italy, went on strike to protest threats of a sale by its owner, the ENI group, a hydrocarbon giant in which the Italian state owns a 30% stake.

The profile of the potential buyer is not unknown. This 78-year-old man made his fortune in the banking sector and then by buying private health clinics. In recent years, the businessman has developed a keen interest in the media and has acquired several daily newspapers including Il Giornalelong owned by the Berlusconi family, and Libero, whose editorial line flirts with the far right. But since 2008, Antonio Angelucci has also had the distinction of being a member of parliament. For the past year and a half, he has sat on the benches of Matteo Salvini’s far-right Lega Nord party, one of the forces of the government coalition.

If the sale goes ahead, how can editorial freedom, which the agency has always prided itself on, be guaranteed? The possible sale of AGI to Angelucci would set an entirely new precedent in the Italian media landscape and become a resounding case of conflict of interest. ENI’s majority shareholder is the Ministry of the Economy, whose portfolio is held by Giancarlo Giorgetti, himself a Lega Nord official. Amongst the opposition and the unions, the fear is that the agency will be sold off among friends. “We will fight as hard as we have to ensure that AGI does not fall into the wrong hands,” said Alessandra Costante, secretary of the Italian National Press Federation, on April 3 during a demonstration in support of the agency in front of the Pantheon in Rome.

‘Remain neutral’

Among the agency’s employees, the unease runs deep. “We fear for our freedom and autonomy,” said an AGI journalist who preferred to remain anonymous. “An agency must remain neutral and cannot take on a political slant.” Although its founder, Enrico Mattei, insisted that AGI remain part of the public group to guarantee its independence, the ENI group is no longer concealing its desire to get rid of its press agency, which it believes would be more in line with its activities.

A statement issued on April 10 by the multinational group’s spokesperson made it clear that the sale of the agency was indeed in the pipeline, and that only one candidate was in the running, rekindling employees’ concerns. “ENI has always let us work freely up to this point, but now the group is not telling us anything. We asked for an emergency meeting, but got no answer,” continued the journalist, who is also a union representative.

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