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Italian journalist walks off ‘biased’ show

January 16, 2009

ROME (JTA) -- A leading Italian journalist walked off a TV talk show after denouncing the host for a program she said was "99.9 percent pro-Palestinian."

Lucia Annunziata, a former president of the state broadcaster RAI, was a guest Thursday night on an episode of  the RAI show Annozero dedicated to the situation in Gaza.

At one point she interrupted host Michele Santoro and sharply criticized him for the tone and bias of the show and its guests.
"So far, except for one girl, it has been 99.9 percent pro-Palestinian," she said.

Santoro in turn shouted at Annunziata, calling her criticism "idiocy." She stood up, detached her microphone and walked off the set.

The incident touched off a political firestorm. Both Santoro and Annunziata are leftists. Rightwing leader Gianfranco Fini, the president of the chamber of deputies, expressed "solidarity and appreciation" to Annunziata and said the Annozero show "surpassed the level of decency."

Israeli Ambassador Gideon Meir also sent a protest over the show's content to RAI management, saying it was a "shameful spectacle."

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