On a final note

Although this isn’t directly linked to impartiality, I’d like to share a video clip I put together of the World Have Your Say crew. I asked them what piece of advice they would give aspiring journalists… Well worth a watch!

Berlusconi strikes again

I have focused heavily on Italy throughout my blog posts simply because I find the media in Italy so incredibly one-sided. Prime Minister Berlusconi manipulates his control of the media to suit his interests, often blocking out opposing views. By doing this, the italian public simply doesn’t get the chance to make an informed decision.

Berlusconi is now being investigated for allegedly pressing media watchdogs to block a talk show critical of his government, in the run-up to the  March 27-28 regional elections.  Read the full story or listen to the podcast here.

The ongoing saga of media partiality in Italy continues…

Impartiality…it’s harder than you think!

At this time last week, my heart was pounding furiously as I sat on the edge of my seat.  I was part of the World Have Your Say’s discussion about whether animals should be kept in captivity for our entertainment. You can still have a look at the blog posts on the World Have Your Say blog. 

I feel very strongly against this and have given speeches against ‘swimming with captive dolphin programmes’ in Phuket and Brussels. When I simply couldn’t contain myself any longer, I went off on a rant about why marine mammals should never be kept in captivity. It was a bit manic, I know, but I honestly couldn’t help myself! That got me thinking…. how is it possible to remain impartial as a journalist when you feel very strongly about a subject?  I asked the World Have Your Say’s Sheetal Parmar and Ros Atkins how they manage to remain impartial. Have a look…

Impartiality cocktail

Impartiality smoothie

The more I read about impartiality, the more I realise that it’s much easier to recognise when it’s missing than when it’s present! In preparation for our presentation, I was trying to come up with a definition for impartiality and found it rather difficult. Impartiality is a cocktail of many things: accuracy, balance, fairness and open-mindedness to name a few. What it boils down to is presenting a wide spectrum of views, giving the audience the opportunity to weigh everything up and make up their own minds. That is essentially what is missing in Italy – a breadth of views. Only one official view is allowed to be broadcast. It is the absence of other views that makes Italian media so blatantly partial.

If you’re interested in learning more about ways Prime Minister Berlusconi has been stamping out other views in Italy, click here.

Italian porn wars

Berlusconi’s latest move in Italy’s media war involves banning pay-per- view pornography and other adult programming during daylight hours. If Parliament approves the ban, it would give Berlusconi the edge over Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia station, Berlusconi’s biggest competitor. Launched in 2003, Sky Italia is the leading pay-TV platform in Italy, reaching almost 5 million subscribers. Critics believe this is just another instance of Berlusconi using his office to boost his media empire. Click here to read the full story.

Sky Italia grossed roughly 45 million euros (£39 million) in sales from porn programming, half of all pay-per-view revenue, according to a report in October in L’Espresso magazine. Without this revenue, Sky Italia would perhaps not be able to compete with Mediset. This is of course, exactly the result Berlusconi is after. Less competition means fewer opposing views. Italians would be another step closer to having only one voice – that of their leader – to listen to, removing all possibilities of forming an informed and balanced opinion.

I’ve come across this interesting blog post on Reuters.

The on-going feud between two of the world’s most influential media moguls doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Mediaset’s Vice Chairman Pier Silvio Berlusconi (Berlusconi’s son) said that “there’s a risk war” with Sky Italia over the regulation.

Last year, Berlusconi accused Murdoch of waging a vendetta against him. The battle continues….

No room for opposing views in Italy

An overview of the Italian media landscape

‘Following on from my previous post…. Berlusconi has an iron grip on the media, owning all the major television stations and controlling the state-run channel. Critics claim that his Mediaset network slants its news coverage to favor his political views. With such complete control over the Italian media, is there any outlet left to express opposing views?

Well if Berlusconi has his way, it won’t be through the internet. His government is now trying to push a bill that would restrict internet freedom by making it compulsory, even for blogs, to get a government permission before posting political comment on the internet. This is an unprecedented move in western democratic countries. The Guardian has written a very informative article about Italy’s challenge to internet freedom.

The new measures are expected to get final Cabinet approval on 4 February  unless opposition parties are able to block them in court.

Impartiality in Italy may well take another blow…

The Italian Job

Berlusconi on election day

Impartiality is one of the cornerstones of good journalism. So what happens when the entire broadcast media is either directly or indirectly controlled by the government? Is there any room for impartiality or is the news destined to be clouded with hidden agendas?

Let’s take a look at Italy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owns Mediaset, which runs the country’s three leading private television stations. RAI, the public station is also under his control. Not satisfied with broadcast media, Berlusconi is also a major shareholder of Italy’s biggest publisher, Mondadori and Italy’s biggest advertising company Publitalia.

During his election campaign in 2006, Berlusconi was omnipresent. Not a single day passed without the prime minister appearing on television, radio or in the papers, in both public and private media. According to Italian newspapers, he had more than 180 minutes of television time over a period of two weeks, while his opponent appeared for only eight minutes.

Impartiality is essentially about reporting both sides of a story without bias or favoritism. 180 minutes vs 8 minutes? I’m not too sure where the concept of impartiality fits into that equation.

For a bit more background information, check out the video report  produced by PBS’s Wide Angle.