Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi has used his majority in parliament to push through the reorganization of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the state-owned network of public television, radio and satellite stations. The changes effectively put an end to the RAI as an institution that, to a limited extent, provided a political forum for different social interests—not only those of big business.
The new RAI leadership is the mirror image of Berlusconi’s “House of Freedoms” (Casa delle libertà) governing coalition. Members of the prime minister’s Forza Italia, some of whom once worked for his Mediaset company, have taken the majority of directorships, while members of Umberto Bossi’s anti-immigrant Lega Nord , representatives of the neo-fascist Alleanza Nazionale, and right-wing Christian Democrats control almost all of the remaining upper management posts. Only two persons with left-of-center political affiliations—Antonio Di Bella (Ulivo) and Paolo Ruffini (Margherita)—have managed to remain in leadership roles, and their departments have been severely cut back.
According to RAI’s director general, Agostino Saccà, these sweeping changes were carried out with one aim: the reestablishment of political “pluralism” in public broadcasting. In fact, the opposite is the case. The Berlusconi regime has no intention of safeguarding democratic rights. Rather, it has set out to obtain total control of the media.