Italy Run By Big Media Mogul Silvio Berslusconi - America's Future?

[Median Democrat]

I have written numerous theads and links discussing how the mainstream media (MSM) is run by five major corporations, and how these large multi-billion dollar corporations have actively opposed the election and re-election of Democrats over the past 20 years, and their control over the political process has grown:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Median%20Democrat

The question is where are we going as a nation? What is the future of our Democracy as media companies merge without opposition from a friendly GOP controlled FCC?

I think we can find the answer in Italy, which is run by Italian media mogul Silvio Berslusconi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi

/snip


Berlusconi is the founder and major shareholder of Fininvest, among the ten largest Italian privately-owned companies,<3> operating in media and finance, including three national TV channels. Together these account for nearly half the Italian TV market. He owns three (out of seven) national analogue television channels, various digital television channels and as some of the country's larger newsmagazines.

/snip

His political rise was rapid and surrounded by controversy. He was elected Member of Parliament for the first time and nominated as Prime Minister following the March 1994 snap parliamentary elections, when Forza Italia gained a relative majority a mere three months after having been officially launched. He formed the first centre-right administration in 34 years. However, his cabinet collapsed after seven months, due to internal disagreements in the centre-right coalition. In the April 1996 snap paliamentary elections, he ran for Prime Minister again but was defeated by centre-left candidate Romano Prodi. From 1996 to 2001 he was the leader of the parliamentary opposition. In the May 2001 parliamentary elections, he was again the centre-right candidate for Prime Minister and won against the centre-left candidate Francesco Rutelli. Berlusconi then formed his second and third governments, which together lasted five years.

Berlusconi was leader of the centre-right coalition in the April 2006 parliamentary elections, which he lost by a very narrow margin, his counterpart being again Romano Prodi. On 17 May 2006 he was formally succeeded by Prodi. From 2006 and 2008 he returned to be the leader of the parliamentary opposition. Less than two years since his 2006 resignation he was re-elected with a large majority in the snap parliamentary elections of April 2008 and sworn in again as prime minister on 8 May 2008 after the collapse, on 24 January 2008, of Romano Prodi's last government.

/snip

This is why I think some of the second guessing regarding Democrat strategy from Bill Clinton, Gore, Kerry and Obama, largely misses the mark when people say the Democrats should go negative. Going negative assumes an impartial media. However, Big Media is hardly impartial. For the time being, Big Media's control of the American thought process has been somewhat discrete. However, it is only a matter of time, as media companies continue to consolidate, before the lines between government and the media are erased, and we have our own version of Silvio Berslusconi, perhaps one of the heirs to Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

[AndyTiedye]

1. If You Own All the Media, You Can Fool Most of the People Most of the Time

[FrenchieCat]

2. Which is why this election is so important......

as it may be truly our last chance...and because of that, we have to work really hard, and we have to fight this media every step of the way. We can't just bring their shit here and comment on it.

[Median Democrat]

3. Agree - The US Is Perilously Close To Media Control Of Government Aided By GOP

This is not a matter of some magical campaign strategy or having a candidate that walks on water. Obama kicks McCain's ass on the issues, and on McCain's support for Bush's failed policies. However, looking at Italy, how did Silvio regain the PM office despite the scandals surrounding his tenure, and his support for the Iraq war? Due to Silvio's control of the media.

In the U.S., we have a similar situation. The number of media outlets has continued to decrease over the years:

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As a result, the majority of media in the U.S. is controlled by five companies. Although 1 company does not have complete control, they each affact each other with Fox and Disney being able to set the agenda if they want to give free air time to McCain commercials, ignore Obama response ads, and generally adhere to the talking points offered by the GOP:

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