Italy Parliament Approves Controversial Media Law

[Judi Lynn]

Italy Parliament Approves Controversial Media Law
Wed December 3, 2003 01:04 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)
By Claire Soares
ROME (Reuters) - The Italian parliament passed a controversial media bill Tuesday that critics say favors Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's business empire.

After a long battle, the law was approved by Berlusconi's center-right allies with a 27-vote majority in the face of fierce opposition from center-left politicians as well as some newspaper editors and state broadcaster RAI. (snip)

(snip) Opponents say it favors private broadcaster Mediaset, top publisher Mondadori and Italy's biggest advertising sales firm -- all controlled by the Berlusconi family holding company Fininvest.

"From today we are all a little less free ... the law worsens all the ills of our television system: little competition, falling quality and progressive restriction of pluralism," said Paolo Gentiloni of the center-left opposition Margherita party.

Berlusconi, through his political office and his business interests, has direct and indirect influence over an estimated 95 percent of Italian TV. (snip/...)


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3927864

[Catholic Sensation]

1. I'd be offended

but we have FNC here so I'm indifferent to this

[La_Serpiente]

2. Bersculoni

already owns 90 percent of the media market in Italy. He owns the state media network and his own private media network. He has put up a facade of fluff that the Italian people have bought into.

[BayCityProgressive]

3. He is

a really scary guy. Talk about a fascist. No wonder he, Bush, Azner, and Howard all play so well together. Even Tony Blair has been pulled to the dark side. Hopefully there are no ultra right victories in France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, or Canada. We are really losing everything.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Italy, unlike most Western European countries

has a language spoken by almost no-one else (there is a small bit of Switzerland that speaks it). So if an Italian doesn't speak a foreign language well, they've got no choice about who their TV comes from, even if they have satellite TV.