13 - Télévision, la quête de l’indépendance
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Giulia Guazzaloca
Strange Bedfellows: Politics and Television in Italy, from the Christian Democrat territory to the Berlusconi effect
Le Temps des médias n°13, Hiver 2009-2010, p. 42-55.In recent years, with the rise of a "Berlusconi effect", Italian television seems to have become the privileged stage of the political play. The relationship between media and politics should still be analyzed on an extended period, since the fascist dictatorship. From the mid-1940s through the 1960s, political parties in the governement, and in particular the Christian Democrats, have control over public television and radio. From the 1960s on, the "lottizziazone" organises a shared control by parties and the board of the three public networks (RAI). The private sector (with Fininvest, then Mediaset) becomes more significant in the 1980s, while the parliament fails to offer regulations properly balancing private and public influences. Raising major issues are the numerous conflicts of interest between S. Berlusconi’s public and private offices.
