Ossigeno per l'Informazione

Description

Ossigeno per l’Informazione is an Italian observatory, founded in 2008, that documents and analyses threats and intimidation against journalists in Italy. It focuses on reporters covering organized crime in the south of the country, and on defenders of civil rights and the environment. Its name is an acronym for Osservatorio Su Informazioni Giornalistiche E Notizie Oscurate.

Since 2006 it has actively monitored and catalogued cases of intimidation, threats, SLAPP suits, spurious legal actions and other acts that restrict the free flow of news. It verifies each case and publishes the results in reports, dossiers and yearbooks. A running counter of documented threats has passed eight thousand cases.

Ossigeno provides free legal advice and representation to journalists and bloggers facing intimidation, paid for by the association and financed by the London-based organisation Media Defence. It also tracks defamation and libel proceedings brought against journalists.

Since 2014 it has run professional training courses across Italy’s regions for journalists, accredited by the national and regional orders of journalists, on defending against spurious lawsuits and recognising hidden censorship. It has agreements with the universities of Bologna and Rome Tor Vergata. It also maintains an online memorial, “Cercavano la verità,” documenting thirty Italian journalists killed for their work.

Registered since 2011 as a voluntary, non-governmental organisation and part of Italy’s Terzo Settore, it is based in Rome. It is funded by membership dues and donations chiefly from journalists’ professional orders. It collaborates internationally with the OSCE, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and other press-freedom networks.