19 December 2003
PROPOSED MEDIA LAW VETOED
Numerous IFEX members have welcomed a move by Italy's President, Carlo Ciampi, to veto a proposed bill that would have given Prime Minister and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi greater control over the country's media markets.
On 15 December, Ciampi refused to sign the Gasparri Law on Television Broadcasting, saying it would permit the "creation of dominant positions" and that some parts concerning media pluralism "did not appear to conform to the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court," according to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
Ciampi's vetoing of the bill means it will be returned to parliament for debate. However, under Italian law, parliament can vote on the bill again without making any changes, after which the president would be obliged to sign the bill if it passed both Houses a second time.
RSF, ARTICLE 19, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI) wrote letters to Ciampi last week, expressing grave concern over the bill and urging him to reject it.
ARTICLE 19 says the bill seriously undermines media pluralism in Italy and seems designed to directly benefit the business interests of Berlusconi. It would allow Berlusconi to continue owning more than two national broadcast channels - in violation of Italy's Constitution - and relax limits on ownership of advertising revenues. Berlusconi's company, Mediaset, already controls 63 per cent of the country's advertising revenues.
The bill also removes restrictions on cross-ownership of news media in 2009, allowing Berlusconi's Mediaset company to further expand into the newspaper market, notes RSF. Mediaset currently owns Italia 1, Canale 5 and Retequattro.
Ciampi's move against the proposed bill means Berlusconi will have to transform Retequattro into a satellite channel following a constitutional court ruling last year. The move would result in lost advertising revenues for Mediaset.
The European Federation of Journalists, an IFJ affiliate, says politicians on all sides are to blame for Italy's media crisis, pointing the finger at administrations of the last 20 years that have failed to carry out reforms. These reforms would have ensured "a framework for independent media that protects the values of independent journalism and access to information as a cornerstone of democracy," the group said in a report released this week.
The report, entitled "Crisis in Italian Media: How Poor Politics and Flawed Legislation Put Journalism Under Pressure," is available at: http://www.ifj.org/pdfs/Italy%20Mission%20Final.pdf
Visit these links:
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2166&Language=EN
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8695
- IPI:
http://www.freemedia.at/Protests%202003/Italy10.12.03.htm
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