
Originariamente Scritto da
Freedomhouse.org
Freedom of speech and the press is constitutionally guaranteed. However, media freedom remains constrained by the continued concentration of media power in the hands of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who, through his private media holdings and political power over the state television networks, controls 90 percent of the country’s broadcast media.
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In April 2004, the Senate adopted the Gasparri law on broadcasting, [...].
However, the law has been heavily criticized for not providing effective de-monopolization measures and thus doing very little to breakup the "duopoly" of RAI and Mediaset in broadcasting media. This would allow Berlusconi, starting from a particular advantage, to continue his domination of private broadcast media.
In July 2004, the parliament passed the Frattini Law, which is intended to deal with the conflict of interest between the prime minister’s public office and his media holdings. The law stipulates that persons holding government office cannot "occupy posts, hold office or perform managerial tasks or any other duties in profit-making companies or other business undertakings." Although this prevents the prime minister from running his own businesses, it does not prevent him from choosing his own proxy, including a family member.
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In January 2005, a court in Rome condemned the Italian public broadcaster RAI for the removal of a TV journalist, Michele Santoro, in 2002.
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In May 2005, the Milan offices of Corriere della Sera were searched following approval by the public prosecutor. Local authorities were searching for sources related to a story in the paper the same month about the use of Italian-made Beretta guns in Iraq by al Qaeda fighters.
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The print media, which consist of several national newspapers, two of which are controlled by the Berlusconi family, continue to provide diverse political opinions, including those critical of the government. However, Berlusconi controls or influences six of the fourteen national surface-frequency channels. Mediaset, a company in which he has a major interest and the largest private broadcaster in the country, owns three leading national channels, while the state-owned network (RAI), traditionally subject to political pressure, controls three. Mediaset further monopolizes broadcasts advertising revenues. In 2004, Mediaset received 58 percent of all advertisement revenues, while the RAI received 28 percent. The other commercial nationwide networks receive fewer than 2 percent of revenues and the hundreds of local/regional TV stations combined only receive 9 percent.
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