About 20 Italian journalists are currently receiving round-the-clock police protection because of serious threats or murder attempts by the mafia. The level of violence against reporters keeps on growing, especially in Rome and the surrounding region, and in the south. In Rome, reporters were verbally and physically attacked in the course of their work by members of neo-fascist groups and supporters of the Five Star Movement (M5S), which is part of the coalition government. On the whole, Italian politicians are less virulent towards journalists than in the past, but journalism risks being undermined by certain recent government decisions, such as a possible reduction in state subsidies for the media.