No satire: Press Council reprimands Ticino party papers
The Press Council has upheld a complaint against the Ticino SP newspaper *Confronti* and the Lega Sunday newspaper *Mattino della Domenica*. The council found that, through their satirical publications, the newspapers had violated human dignity and infringed on privacy.
These were two different publications, according to the Press Council. However, both had in common that they had triggered a great echo and a debate about the freedom of the press and the limits of satire in Ticino in 2012.
Questions for Boris Bignasca
In March 2012, the monthly magazine of the Ticino SP published an article with ten fictitious questions for Boris Bignasca, son of the late Lega founder Giuliano Bignasca and author at Mattino della Domenica. Boris Bignasca was called various names and described as a child from a dysfunctional family. Among other things, it was claimed that his father had abandoned his mother when she was pregnant with him - and subsequently failed to pay alimony. According to the Press Council, Bignasca's privacy had been violated. The fact that the attacked person himself published the article online does not change this. The Press Council added: "Even if Boris and Giuliano Bignasca express themselves pointedly in public, they do not completely waive the protection of their privacy.
Death wished
Boris Bignasca, however, is himself pilloried on the second part of the complaint. In April 2012, he published in Il Mattino, in a satirical column, the sentence directed against the writer Giovanni Orelli: "We eagerly await the next publication under the name of Giovanni Orelli. In the obituaries." The Mattino newspaper itself acknowledged the sentence as a "slip" at the time, writes the Press Council. Giuliano Bignasca, then editor-in-chief, had explained that it was a single unfortunate sentence in a satirical vessel. Boris Bignasca drew consequences at the time and resigned from the Lega.
Satire has limits
Satire is allowed to exaggerate, exaggerate and distort, writes the Press Council. But there are limits to what is permissible. These limits are exceeded, among other things, when the human dignity of individuals and groups is intolerably diminished. The right to life is the core of human dignity, it said (SDA).
Image: Keystone
