Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: The Economist: Democrazia oscurata in Italia

ancora figure di merda grazie allo sconcio infame piduista
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15772832
Italy's elections and the media
Blacked out
How Silvio Berlusconi constrains political debate in the media
Mar 25th 2010 | ROME | From The Economist print edition
THE regional elections in Italy on March 28th and 29th will, as Silvio 
Berlusconi has himself conceded, be of national importance—a big test of 
the prime minister’s popularity after a troubled 2009. On March 20th he 
called his supporters to a big rally in Rome, but the turnout was 
disappointing. The results of the elections may be tight.
So you might expect that the flagship channel of Italy’s public-service 
broadcaster, RAI, would be offering blanket pre-election coverage on 
March 26th. Instead, its only programme will begin at 11.10pm and last 
for just five minutes. Prime time will be given over to two quiz shows 
and a talent contest. RAI’s other two channels, along with the three 
private ones run by the prime minister’s Mediaset group, will also be 
bereft of election comment and analysis.
Nothing better illustrates Mr Berlusconi’s grip on Italy’s media. In a 
country with low newspaper readership and internet penetration, the main 
source of political information is terrestrial television. With three of 
the four main private channels controlled by the prime minister and two 
of its three state-run channels toeing a government line, news bulletins 
are bland at best. The editor of RAI 1’s news, Augusto Minzolini, openly 
broadcasts pro-government editorials. When an English lawyer, David 
Mills, who was convicted of taking a bribe from Mr Berlusconi, escaped 
imprisonment because of the statute of limitations, RAI 1’s news said 
wrongly that he had been acquitted.
This makes political talk shows more important. Although equal-airtime 
legislation was introduced in 2000 to avoid bias, Italy’s media 
watchdog, Agcom, decided last month that the best way of all to 
guarantee balance was to ban talk shows during the campaign. This 
decision might be dismissed as misplaced punctiliousness were it not for 
evidence that Agcom has been subject to pressure from Mr Berlusconi. 
Police looking into loan-sharking came across a conversation between the 
prime minister and an Agcom board member, in which Mr Berlusconi had 
allegedly demanded that it shut down “Annozero”, a hostile talk show. 
The board member reportedly offered help from officials in preparing a 
formal complaint.
At the request of the fourth private terrestrial channel and of Rupert 
Murdoch’s Sky satellite network, a court has overturned Agcom’s 
decision. But neither Mediaset nor RAI has reinstated the talk shows. 
The daily Corriere della Sera is trying to fill the void by hiring a 
noted TV journalist to present a programme on its website. The team from 
“Annozero” is mounting a web-only show in Bologna. But the web is a poor 
substitute.
The blackout silenced Mr Berlusconi as well. Until March 23rd, that is, 
when he intervened by phone in a popular RAI breakfast TV programme and 
aired his views—without contradiction.

 aired his views without contradiction.
UN RAGGIO DI LUCE E' VENUTO DA BOLOGNA!
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