Hardtalk journalism. But never in Italy

I watched with gusto yesterday's BBC Hardtalk, an interview with Franco Frattini. Italian politicians able to talk publicly in English are rare to be found. And Italy's Foreign Minister, despite some grammar mistakes and often-repeated sentences (such as "frankly speaking", "oh yesss", and a Roman accent quite evident when he went out of his script), talked his way through Stephen Sackur's usual grilling, managing (hardly) to keep his cool.

As I always do when I watch Hardtalk, I instinctively pick a winner, and this time it was the journalist, big time. Frattini's answers sounded shallow especially on immigration and Roma discrimination, too official, sometimes out of the context; and in some moments you would expect the minister to take off his smiling mask and start ranting at Sackur. But he didn't.

Anyway, while I was watching Hardtalk, I couldn't help but think that you don't see interviews like this in Italy. Political journalism here doesn't go further than putting a microphone under the politician's chin, while he looks at the camera and talks to the viewer (you can't blame them, actually: the journalist is useless, and his questions could be written by the politician's press office). Reporters who dare ask uncomfortable questions are treated by politicians like partisan, unprofessional journalists with a political agenda.

Two years ago, when he was the opposition leader, Silvio Berlusconi walked out of Lucia Annunziata's "Mezz'ora", a one-to-one interview clearly inspired by Hardtalk. Annunziata's questions were soft, by Sackur's standards, but that was more than enough for Berlusconi, who accused her of being biased. The saddest thing about that episode was the reaction of the people. While you could expect fellow politicians would defend Berlusconi, many Italians - even progressive-leaning ones - admitted they were uneasy with Annunziata's aggressive style. And the fact that Annunziata is actually more centre-left than centre-right (although radical leftists consider her too pro-American and conservative), in the eyes of many, prevented her from being "fair" to her guest. Therefore, whatever perfectly legitimate question she posed to Berlusconi, it was because she was biased. Following this way of thinking, it is the journalist who has to prove his guest he's fit to the role, not the other way round.

That's why they should broadcast yesterday's Hardtalk on Italian tv, with subtitles. Because you will never see Frattini grilled for half an hour by an Italian journalist. He simply wouldn't accept the invitation. And if he did, he would know he can call the journalist biased, when he's facing tough questions. Try do that with Stephen Sackur.