A restaurateur who was exposed formaking a false claim she had barred a customer who had posted areview, allegedly made up by her to get publicity for hereatery, complaining he had been seated near a gay couple and adisabled boy, was hounded to death by left-leaning journalistsas if her case had been Watergate or "the scandal of thecentury", the rightwing government League and Brothers of Italy(FdI) parties said Monday.
The woman, Giovanna Pedretti, is believed to have committedsuicide in a northern Italian river amid a social media backlashafter she was exposed by state broadcaster Rai's left-leaningRai3 news channel Tg3, liberal celebrity chef and influencerLorenzo Biagiarelli, and the latter's partner and fellow liberalinfluencer Selvaggia Lucarelli.
Senior League lawmaker Mara Bizzotto said "what happened at Lodiis shocking and makes you think: Tg3 and the Lucarellis treatedan alleged fake review as if it were the Watergate scandal.
"I only hope that those who flung so much mud now have thedecency to remain silent. And what does Rai have to say aboutit?"League MEP Isabella Tovaglieri said "common sense went missingin the case of the Lodi restaurateur, and those who unleashedthe media lynching should have a good hard think about what theydid."Giorgio Maria Bergesio, League pointman on the parliamentary Raioversight body, said the League would file a formal question onRai's coverage saying that "the story of an alleged fake postwas treated by Tg3 as if it were the scandal of the century.
"A news desk is free to exercise freedom of the press and coverall stories but we urgently need a debate on proportionality.
"We don't think that the factor of social interest was so highas to justify the media hounding of the protagonists.
"We voice the hope that Rai will take a stance, also in light ofthe contracts and compensation on which we intend to shed lightshortly".
The Rai commission pointman for Premier Giorgia Meloni's FdI,Francesco Filini, agreed that "a public service broadcaster mustnot indulge in media lynching".
He said that Pedretti, the restaurateur, had been "subjected toa full-blown summary trial by the media" and had been "placed inthe stocks of media opinion, leading to her likely suicide".
Filini said "certain Rai programmes have habituated us to suchapproaches, but in this case it had extremely seriousconseqences".
The other government party, centre right post Berlusconi ForzaItalia (FI), said through MP Roberto Pella that "the casehighlights the need for a more conscientious use of socialmedia, to rein in the haters.".
Lucarelli, whose status as influencer has been boosted by hermedia prominence as the most outspoken judge on Italy's versionof Dancing With The Stars, responded by saying that it appearedto her critics that "re-establishing the truth is a fault,something to be held responsible for".
She said that "writing false things is dangerous and can evenlead to tragedies", and cited another case last year in which analleged "commuting school janitor" was "hit by a shitstorm ofabuse after it emerged that her story was false".
She said "no one ever poses the problem that writing things thataren't true can have serious consequences.
"In practice, we have come to the point that publishing a truestory is no longer held to be a journalist's responsibilty. It'sworse than Black Mirror".
Amid the row, Lucarelli's partner Biagiarelli took the day offfrom his job on a Rai cooking show on Monday.
The Lodi restaurant owner did not have any economic problems,friends and family said Monday.
Traces of blood were found in her car and police think she mayhave slit her wrists before jumping into the Lambro River anddrowning.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA