I'm afraid that's actually mostly the usual bullshit. The journalist recycles the usual uncomprehending stuff about Berlusconi owning this, that and the other, without giving any evidence that the media do much to support him. He does not mention that the two largest papers, the leading secular weekly, and the leading Catholic weekly, are all at open war with him; that most of the state broadcaster RAI is in open or covert opposition; and that even his own TV stations harbour instances of definite rebelliousness. The writer writes from the viewpoint of an American journalist, where it is obvious that if you work for NBC, or the NYT, or the WaPo, you will share the policies of its owners and leaders; but in Italy things are different. There is more diversity of views in one Italian TV station than in the whole American overground media, let alone the British, and Berlusconi himself never seriously tried to impose the kind of conformity one meets at the BBC or for that matter at Fox TV. He knows it would be bad for business, and besides he has a curious personal dislike for sacking people.
He is also completely out of his depth in the matter of Berlusconi's judicial troubles. This is a matter of an actual clash of constitutional powers with overtones of party struggles, since the Italian judiciary and the whole legal profession have been heavily colonized by the left since the sixties. They did not even try to disguise it: there is an association of judges - judges, mind you, not even lawyers - which is called Magistratura Democratica and was a branch of the former Communist Party. And because of the immense bulk and complexity of Italian law, there is never a shortage of anything to charge any citizen with if a magistrate so wants. Berlusconi's electors are firmly of the opinion - and not without reason - that the famous twenty prosecutions were all politically motivated frame-ups, and a lot of them will have horror stories to tell you about things that happened to them or to their friends. The whole aspect of corporate clash between the judiciary and the executive, which parallels quite closely the issues American conservatives have with "activist judges", has wholly escaped the author.
That is not to say that Barlusconi is a gentleman or even a decent human being. It is that the journalists - fed by their Italian colleagues, who are practically all anti-Berlusconi - simply don't see what is plain before their eyes. Berlusconi has lost elections, twice, which, if Italy were the place this silly and common-minded journo thinks it is, would be unimaginable. Berlusconi's media tyranny is an invention of the Italian media, and I am not, repeat not, exaggerating. I repeat: the two leading newspapers - La Repubblica, of the left, and Il Corriere della Sera, centre-left - and the two leading weeklies - L'Espresso, secular left, and Famiglia Cristiana, Catholic left - are at open war with him and have been so since he got into politics, or indeed before. Most of the Catholic hierarchy, beginning with the Archbishop of Milan, detests him; the Archbishop of Milan has publicly celebrated the victory of the left in his city. Berlusconi's own newspaper, Il Giornale, sells less than a third than either of its rivals; his weekly, Panorama, is a pale shadow of L'Espresso and not even comparable to the mighty Famiglia Cristiana, with its million or more sales per week. There is no media tyranny.
The only reason why Berlusconi used to win elections - and the reason why his moral and mental decline is so significant - is that his opponents were a mess. The Italian left led the country to paralysis and disgrace; Berlusconi's governments, until recently, had some sense of direction. Now even that has gone, and, that being the case, there is really no reason to distinguish between government and opposition.
no subject
He is also completely out of his depth in the matter of Berlusconi's judicial troubles. This is a matter of an actual clash of constitutional powers with overtones of party struggles, since the Italian judiciary and the whole legal profession have been heavily colonized by the left since the sixties. They did not even try to disguise it: there is an association of judges - judges, mind you, not even lawyers - which is called Magistratura Democratica and was a branch of the former Communist Party. And because of the immense bulk and complexity of Italian law, there is never a shortage of anything to charge any citizen with if a magistrate so wants. Berlusconi's electors are firmly of the opinion - and not without reason - that the famous twenty prosecutions were all politically motivated frame-ups, and a lot of them will have horror stories to tell you about things that happened to them or to their friends. The whole aspect of corporate clash between the judiciary and the executive, which parallels quite closely the issues American conservatives have with "activist judges", has wholly escaped the author.
That is not to say that Barlusconi is a gentleman or even a decent human being. It is that the journalists - fed by their Italian colleagues, who are practically all anti-Berlusconi - simply don't see what is plain before their eyes. Berlusconi has lost elections, twice, which, if Italy were the place this silly and common-minded journo thinks it is, would be unimaginable. Berlusconi's media tyranny is an invention of the Italian media, and I am not, repeat not, exaggerating. I repeat: the two leading newspapers - La Repubblica, of the left, and Il Corriere della Sera, centre-left - and the two leading weeklies - L'Espresso, secular left, and Famiglia Cristiana, Catholic left - are at open war with him and have been so since he got into politics, or indeed before. Most of the Catholic hierarchy, beginning with the Archbishop of Milan, detests him; the Archbishop of Milan has publicly celebrated the victory of the left in his city. Berlusconi's own newspaper, Il Giornale, sells less than a third than either of its rivals; his weekly, Panorama, is a pale shadow of L'Espresso and not even comparable to the mighty Famiglia Cristiana, with its million or more sales per week. There is no media tyranny.
The only reason why Berlusconi used to win elections - and the reason why his moral and mental decline is so significant - is that his opponents were a mess. The Italian left led the country to paralysis and disgrace; Berlusconi's governments, until recently, had some sense of direction. Now even that has gone, and, that being the case, there is really no reason to distinguish between government and opposition.