Italian Journalists Guild voices dismay at sacking of Gabriele Nunziati.
Italian reporter Gabriele Nunziati was fired by the Rome-based Nova information company for asking European Fee spokesperson Paula Pinho a query about Israel.
Throughout a press convention in Brussels on 13 October, the journalist requested Pinho: “You will have been repeating a number of occasions that Russia ought to repay for the development of Ukraine. Do you imagine Israel ought to repay for the reconstruction of Gaza, since they destroyed nearly the entire Strip and civilian infrastructure?”
Pinho replied: “It is undoubtedly an attention-grabbing query on which I might not have any remark at this stage.”
A few weeks later, on 27 October, Nunziati obtained a termination letter from Agenzia Nova, a small Italian information company in existence since 2001.
Gabriele Nunziati è un cronista basato a Bruxelles
Ha posto una domanda alla Commissione, che la portavoce ha definito “interessante”
Ma l’agenzia per la quale lavora (Nova) l’ha considerata “tecnicamente sbagliata” e ha interrotto il rapporto di lavoropic.twitter.com/iOB9mMh09k
— Marco Bresolin (@marcobreso) November 4, 2025
Nunziati advised information outlet Fanpage that within the days following his query about Israel, he had obtained a number of “fairly tense” cellphone calls from his employers.
Within the meantime video footage of his query had begun circulating broadly on-line, shared by those that believed it demonstrated the disparity between how the 2 points—the struggle in Gaza and the struggle in Ukraine—are being dealt with by the European Union, Il Publish studies.
Agenzia Nova responds
In response to Fanpage, Agenzia Nova didn’t deny sending the letter to Nunziati, arguing that his query was “utterly misplaced and technically incorrect” as a result of Russia invaded a rustic whereas Israel “suffered armed aggression”, in reference to the bloodbath of seven October 2023.
“It’s subsequently not shocking that the spokesperson didn’t reply the query” – Agenzia Nova wrote – “What’s worse, the video regarding his query was picked up and reposted by Russian nationalist Telegram channels and media shops linked to political Islam with an anti-European agenda, inflicting embarrassment for the company.”
Response
“You can’t in truth be fired for asking a query”, the nationwide council of the Italian Journalists Guild (ODG) mentioned in an announcement, expressing its “dismay” on the case.
The ODG burdened that “the function of journalists, no matter contractual protections, is to ask questions that could be uncomfortable or unwelcome”, requesting that Nunziati “be reinstated promptly and totally to his function”.
Sandro Ruotolo, MEP for the centre-left opposition Partito Democratico (PD) celebration, mentioned: “Firing a journalist for asking a query, regardless of how uncomfortable or controversial, is a really critical matter that ought to alarm anybody who cares about press freedom.”
Ruotolo mentioned the case “raises profound questions in regards to the state of journalism and the local weather of strain that weighs on those that merely attempt to do their job: holding these in energy to account”, including: “There isn’t a such factor as a unsuitable query.”
Nicola Fratoianni, chief of the Sinistra Italiana and co-leader of the Inexperienced-Left Alliance (AVS), echoed these considerations over the dismissal of Nunziati, describing it as “a disconcerting and critical matter for which we are going to maintain parliament accountable”.
Underlining that it’s the function of a journalist to ask questions, Fratoianni mentioned the “drastic editorial resolution” highlighted “the extent of press freedom in our nation: nicely above warning stage. And in a democracy, this can be a horrible signal”.
Frataoianni known as on Agenzia Nova to rethink its resolution, “as a result of this nation wants journalists with a straight again, it wants journalists who ask questions”.
