Italy: Two Rai Journalists Violently Assaulted and Threatened While Reporting – Police Must Arrest Perpetrators
Location: Italy, Salerno
Date: April 21, 2023
Barbara Di Palma and Tatiana Bellizzi hit, spat at, and threatened while reporting for Rai TV. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled at this horrific attack on journalists trying to do their jobs. Police must immediately arrest aggressors.
“I’ll come and find you, and I’ll kill you,” screamed a man at Rai journalists before hitting Tatiana Bellizzi in the head and spitting in the face of Barbara Di Palma, hurling homophobic slurs at the reporters, and potentially attempting to run one of the reporters over with his car.
“Being spat in your face is truly the most humiliating thing that can happen,” Di Palma recounts to Il Sussidiario.
Two women traffic officers restrained the individual before he could do more harm.
“I hadn't noticed that he had jumped into the car to start the engine to attempt to run me over,” says the “La Vita in Diretta” correspondent.
The incident occurred on April 21 when Di Palma and Bellizzi journalists were filming outside the home of the Vacchiano family, of whom three are currently in jail in connection with the death and disappearance of Marzia Capezzuti.
Di Palma and Bellizza were covering a scheduled police rescue of Vacchiano’s dogs, who have been locked in the house since their arrest on April 19.
The journalists approached the daughter and sister of the accused, Annamaria Vacchiano, at the house.
“When Annamaria arrived, we asked her if she felt like making a statement,” recalls Di Palma. “She began to rant vehemently, blatantly, against the people who had appeared. After that, her partner arrived like lightning and began raging against me and Tatiana.”
Local journalist associations and the management of Rai have condemned the assault on Di Palma and Bellizzi and called for arresting those responsible.
The remains of Marzia Capezzuti were found in an abandoned farmhouse in Salerno in October 2022. Barbara Vacchiano, her partner Damiano Noschese and her 15-year-old son are being accused of her murder.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns this violent attack on Barbara Di Palma and Tatiana Bellizzini. We have recorded several physical assaults on journalists by private citizens in Europe in 2023. The lack of condemnation of these incidents encourages individuals to feel free to abuse and violently attack journalists. Police must immediately arrest the individuals responsible and bring them to justice.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.
