Italians will have no newspapers until after Christmas due to a three-day journalists' strike announced yesterday.

The strike, involving news agency and print journalists will run from tomorrow to Saturday and is the latest move in a long-running dispute with editors over pay and employment conditions.

Television and radio journalists staged a two-day strike earlier this week.

The journalists' collective labour contract expired in December 2004 and has not been renewed. As a result of the latest strike, Romano Prodi has had to cancel the prime minister's traditional year-end news conference.

Journalists are particularly irate about the widespread use of low-paid, temporary workers on short-term contracts which their union says produces sub-standard journalism "of no use to any democracy".

The editors counter that journalists are resisting necessary labour market flexibility and trying to cling to outdated privileges.

Newspapers in Italy do not come out on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, meaning Italians will not be able to read the papers over their breakfast until December 27.

On-off protests have been running for months, including "by-line strikes" in which newspaper articles appear without the name of the author.

Prime-time news bulletins have gone out without the usual film footage and link-ups, opening with the presenter reading out a text explaining the reasons for the protest.

Italy has suffered a spate of strikes in recent months involving, among others, urban public transport, national air carrier Alitalia, and teachers.