THE HR BREAKDOWN

Italian sports journalists to strike over Olympic opening farce

Journalists from Italy’s RaiSport television channel are to stage a three-day strike to protest an error-strewn opening ceremony broadcast by RaiSport director Paolo Petrecca. The journalists said Petrecca’s “disastrous coverage” was “embarrassing.” Petrecca welcomed viewers to Rome’s Stadio Olimpico instead of Milan’s San Siro, where Friday’s ceremony was held, before mistaking Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, for Laura Mattarella, daughter of the Italian president. RaiSport’s internal union body representing journalists at the public broadcaster said all journalists would withhold bylines during the Games and then strike for three days once the event is completed. “We have all been embarrassed, no one excluded, and through no fault of our own,” it said.