And the news is… there is no news

A strange sight on RAI’s TG1 tonight.
I tuned in for the news at 8pm – after L’Eredita – a terrible yet strangely addictive game show that ends with a contestant who has to choose 1 word per pair from 5 pairs. For each wrong answer, the amount of money they stand to win is cut in half. Once there are 5 words available, the contestant has to write a word that links them all together.
I have never seen anyone win anything on the show.
So I knew tonight was special, as the contestant won E50,000. Very strange.
Then the news started, and the usual anchor was nowhere in sight.
The first item on the news was…. That the journalists are on strike. The stand-in anchor proceeded to read the statement from the editor – in which it was made clear that the journalists were standing to lose a portion of their salary and their pension too, “in an incomprehensible manner”.
Then we had a few headlines, read from paper sheets (I presume the teleprompter was likewise not in work) and no pictures.
The subjects covered included Berlusconi and Prodi – Berlusconi always seems to get first billing still now – a few words on Palestine and the murders in Suffolk, then a few more words on the strike and the journalists.
Then the next game show started.
Being a Hong Konger, strikes are not a common experience for me, but in Italy, there seems to be a surfeit of industrial action. The bus drivers have been striking regularly in Trieste since I arrived – at least 5 times since September.
Luckily, Massimo now takes me to school, and he doesn’t strike!