Vanguard // Current

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A new ad campaign for Current TV's original documentary series "Vanguard" (current.com/vanguard) has been banned in Rome.

One of the banned ads was for "America's Secret War" (http://current.com/items/89438469/la_guerra_segreta_all_iran.htm). And the other was for an investigation into a mafia hit on a Catholic priest.

Tommaso Tessarolo, General Manager of Current Italy, is fighting the censorship. Below is a translated letter that Tommaso wrote and posted to the facebook group "Censored by the City of Rome" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128786715074):

"I want you to know how astonishing and worrying has been the decision of the Commune ofRome to CENSOR the promotional campaign set for the Subway system(and not for the bus system as declared by ATAC – Rome’s Public Transportation).

Why is it that in Milan this campaign was calmly accepted, but in Rome it was brutally censored? The answer is likely in two keywords: Bible and Vatican. This last one we know is closer to Rome than to Milan. Too bad that that those who have censored our campaign haven’t even taken the time to understand what it referred to. It’s the premiere of our VANGUARD series, of which one episode is about a priest who was killed by the mafia.
Are these the messages that should be censored you think?

Or perhaps the censorship’s goal is to attack the only channel in Italy that has real investigative journalism.

We firmly believe that people are tired. Tired of the situation in which decades of horrible politics have kept us back, tired of being lied to, tired of television channels that do everything except inform.

We are convinced that these messages (this campaign) should be encouraged and applauded, NOT CENSORED. From March 9 on CURRENT we will step on the accelerator even more, we will go out on the field to report every day, because we are convinced that to change this world, a world we many times dislike, we have to understand it. And to fully understand it, first someone has to have the courage to tell it like it is. WE WANT TO HAVE THIS COURAGE. We want to share it and to continue going forward with our TV and online project, with the PARTICIPATION of everyone who wants to join us in this battle.

This censorship might be the first of many. And that’s why it’s important for this group to exist as an active watchdog against those who want to prevent the truth from being told."

Thanks!
Tommaso Tessarolo
General Manager
Current ItalyA new ad campaign for Current TV's original documentary series "Vanguard" (current.com/vanguard) has been banned in... more