Editorial October 2009 European Alternatives launches European Campaign for Press Freedom in Italy see www.freepresseurope.eu www.stampalibera.eu Over the last few weeks great relevance has been given by the European press to the “Italian anomaly”. Lately, the attention has shifted to the problematic situation of the media in the country, and the danger of a distortion of one of the fundamental mechanisms of any democracy, namely the freedom and pluralism of information. A lack of a European response to the intimidation of the press in Italy poses a direct threat to the right of liberty of expression throughout the European Union, and limits the authority of any European condemnation of censorship in the rest of the world. The starting point is well known: Italy is the only Western democracy where the prime minister exercises direct control over three television channels he owns and indirect control over three public channels, as well as owning several newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and the largest publishing house in the country. To these well-known facts a number of additional, worrying events have been piling up over the last few months, culminating in an all-out offensive of the Italian prime minister against the few organs of the press that still vehemently critique his and his government's positions. Here are just some of the recent facts: Televisions 1. Nearly 90% of Italian television is comprised by the state television channels, Rai1, Rai2, and Rai3, and the Mediaset private channels Rete4, Canale5, Italia1, owned by Berlusconi. 2. In a recent meeting at his own private villa, Berlusconi personally selected the main directors of the public channels and the directors of the evening news editions of these channels. 3. While the exercise could be repeated for most of the newly appointed figures, here are two quotes from the new director of Italy's leading evening news, TG1, Augusto Minzolini: On Berlusconi: “He wears a blue jersey and has the firm hand of the worksite master, of the head of the fire brigade, of the military chief, but also the comprehension of the priest. Berlusconi gets exalted in emergencies. His attitude is 'the politics of action'”. The largest opposition party, on the other hand, is characterized negatively: “The truth is that the Democratic Party was born antiquated. The world runs, the centre-left stays still”. 4. One of the historical founders of TG5, Enrico Mentana, was recently and abruptly fired by Berlusconi's Mediaset group over the running of his political program “Matrix”. Here is a letter sent by Mentana to the head of the television channel he worked for, written a few months before being fired and soon after Berlusconi's latest election: “Our dinner ended a few hours ago. It was a mistake to invite me. I felt out of place. There was all the first bench of the newsdesk, but I did not hear a word about journalism for even a minute. It seemed a Thanksgiving dinner... an electoral Thanksgiving. All those around me had voted in the same way... it was obvious, as it was obviously to congratulate each other for their contribution towards this good end... I no longer feel at home in a group that seems an electoral committee, where everyone thinks in the same way, which is precisely why they have been put there.” Newspapers Berlusconi's statements against particular newspapers opposed to his government are well known. Recently, however, there has been an escalation of what may only be called an attempt at intimidation: 1. Speaking in front of a congress of young industrialists, Berlusconi encouraged companies not to advertise in newspapers hostile to his positions, claiming these same papers are responsible for exaggerating the reach of the economic crisis in Italy. Not only does this represent unprecedented interference by a head of state, but the matter is worsened by three considerations: a) the large advertising budget of 'state' companies, the directors of which are appointed by the Berlusconi cabinet and seek its goodwill; b) Berlusconi’s large commercial empire and its advertising budget; c) Berlusconi's interests as editor of competing newspapers, radio, and television stations, all seeking advertising revenue. 2. Following a number of revelations this summer over Berlusconi's relation with escorts and showgirls and his using State flights for their transportation to private parties, all amply reported by the international media, Berlusconi has sued Italian newspapers La Repubblica, and L'Unita, and European newspapers El Pais and Le Nouvel Observateur, in total claiming in excess of three million euros. He is said to also be investigating suing The Times Newspaper of London. 3. Following repeated criticism over Berlusconi's personal life and his government's approach to questions of migration by the newspaper of the Italian catholic bishops, Avvenire, Berlusconi's own newspaper, Il Giornale, published an unsubstantiated report accusing the director of Avvenire of having threatened the wife of a man with whom he allegedly held sexual relations. The slander campaign has led to the resignation of the director of Avvenire, Dino Boffo. Independent Reports 1. In its latest 2009 report, Freedom House classified Italy as only “partly free”, isolating in particular the political interference in the system of information 2. In its own latest report on freedom of the press in Italy, Reporters without Borders contend that Berlusconi “increases political interference” in the “editorial line” of the public and private news channels, “fostering self-censorship on the part of a section of the profession”. 3. The Italian association of journalists calls the recent legal proceedings against L'Unita “an attempt to strangle a newspaper of the opposition” 4. Aidan White, secretary-general of the International and European Federation of Journalists, writes in a recent press statement that: "[Berlusconi] puts press freedom at risk by trying to use the law to intimidate journalists and to stifle media reporting.” In Italy, a more or less sophisticated process of media manipulation risks depriving citizens of the means to form a reasoned opinion on and check the actions of those in power. The legislation governing 'freedom of the press' remains intact and fully apt to a twenty-first century democracy. The problem lies in the application of such legislation, the acts of political intimidation and attempts at distortion of the advertising market, and a continuous contamination of the personnel of media organs with individuals loyal to current Prime Minister Berlusconi. In a country where television channels represent the only source of information for over 80% of the population, control over the media cannot be allowed to assume the draconian and totalitarian nature of its twentieth century precedent. Manipulation of the principal, “mass” media of a country can today perfectly co-exist with the maintenance of dedicated 'indian reserves' of opposition, flag-bearers of a merely procedural freedom of expression. The Italian example has consequences far beyond Italy. Lack of a European response to the attacks on the liberty of expression and thought in Italy would threaten one of the fundaments of democracy throughout Europe. It puts in jeopardy progress made in former Soviet countries welcomed into the Union with regards to freedom of expression and of the press, and weakens any European condemnation of censorship or press intimidation on its borders and further abroad. In the context of what seem to be increasing attempts to limit the freedom of expression even in several Western countries which claim to be the homelands of liberty, the Italian example is potentially pernicious, and a Europe-wide response is demanded.