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…
On the Fence 