Berlusconi threatens press over gaffe reports

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (pictured) has threatened his country's press with "direct and tough" punishment after Italian journalists took great pleasure in reporting a series of gaffes he made during last week’s G20 and Nato summits. Berlusconi accused the press of having "no other aim than that of saying the Prime Minister has committed faux pas or gaffes" and "defaming me and misinforming readers". The Italian press's official representative group has said that Berlusconi’s comments are of "unprecedented gravity".
 
There was no doubt the journalists enjoyed themselves during Berlusconi's capers in London and Strasbourg.  He managed to skip an official Nato photocall, he left German Chancellor Angela Merkel waiting at the end of a red carpet while he finished a mobile phone call, and he riled the Queen by calling out "Mr Obama!" during a London group photo. Buckingham Palace has diplomatically denied that any offence was caused, but a YouTube video clip clearly shows that the Queen was not amused. As La Stampa put it, Berlusconi has an "unrivalled ability to make a fool of himself".
 
In Prague for the weekend's EU meeting with Barack Obama, 72-year-old Berlusconi told reporters: "I don't want to go as far as to talk about direct and tough actions in respect of certain newspapers and press personalities. But, frankly, I'm tempted."  Asked what he meant, the PM seemed to suggest he would encourage a boycott of certain television channels. "If I say 'Don't watch a TV channel' or something, do you think that no one in Italy would follow me?" he asked.
 
If such a boycott does occur, it is unlikely to include the dozens of TV stations and news magazines still owned by the media tycoon. Nor is the paper Il Giornale likely to suffer: the centre-right title is owned by Berlusconi's younger brother Paolo.  ·