The media landscape of Italy.
Here is an essay I did for my module 'Media Industries.' It is similar to my previous essays on the global North and South comparison essay's if you were interested and wanted to also check them out also.
The media landscape of Italy
The media landscape differs from country to country due to regulation and control, by influences such as the government and conglomerates. As well as this the variety of different media platforms, from public service media outlets to the private sector media are all regulated differently, due to their owners and what they aim to produce. Italy has a heavily shaped media landscape due to political control the runs through the media industries, as well as how heavily regulated areas of the media sectors are. This essay will be discussing the different aspects of the media landscape in Italy and how they operate, along with how the industry has shifted due to government control.
One area of the Italian media landscape that is heavily influential on its audience is the Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI). This is Italy's public service media platform that creates media content such as television and three radio stations that represent 50 percent of the national audience (Smart Expact, 2018). These forms of media made by the RAI are major providers in media coverage in Italy. Although due to RAI being a service for the people it relies heavily on funding and a fee of 100 euros to be paid by the public. However the fee must be paid whether each household watches the channels or not (Smart Expact, 2018), this frustrates many members of the public as many do not engage in the channel. The RAI have a code of ethics that they have to follow to ensure all media output is fair and not politically one sided, by doing this it ensures all media platforms under the RAI have the same codes of conduct (CODE OF ETHICS OF THE RAI GROUP, 2018). However there are some rising issues with the RAI, as public service media in Europe is under threat due to an incline in funding and a loss of trust from viewers (Barca, 2016). Audiences are beginning to find it difficult to trust in public service media, as the providers have an absence of transparency leading to bias opinions within broadcasting content. This was heavily caused when Berlusconi was the president of Italy, leading to the content created on RAI platforms to be partisan. Because of this it has led to an ongoing distrust in public service media after Berlusconi’s impacts on the leading provider of public media content. However despite a partial distrust in opinions when political control over the media industry occurs, such as Berlusconi, it is clear that public service media is a must for society. It allows the space for a creative market to thrive as well as a source of ‘reliable’ information for the public to trust. For example in Europe, public service radio was the most trusted medium in 2018 (Careless, 2018).
(Diagram from: Caress, 2018, EBU Radio)
(Demonstrating the most and least trusted forms of media across the EU, not just Italy, however this is a similar perspective the Italians have of the media)
It is important to touch on community media in Italy as it is an area of the media which allows smaller minorities, groups and communities to have a space to create their own media content. Community media is a non-profit, inclusive form that aims to represent groups that are commonly under-represented by ‘traditional’ media (Community Media Association, 2018). In a country so dominated by media conglomerates and moguls it would be expected that community media would thrive and be common amongst society. However it is impossible to find any community media groups in Italy within any media sector. There are no documents discussing as to why there is none either. This unusual and leaves the possibility that community media is maybe not accepted in Italy due to conglomerates and government wanting to control all the media sectors, to ensure public opinions are not voiced.
As previously discussed within the public service media the media landscape in Italy is one that is heavily politically controlled from those such as $8 Billion net worth media mogul Silvio Berlusconi (Forbes, 2018). Italy’s three time prime minster (most recently 2001-2006) he is known for his huge influence on the Italian media as well as a huge amount of political control. The Berlusconi’s family have controlled Italy’s top three national private TV channels known as ‘the Mediaset Empire.’ Mediaset and RAI control roughly 90 percent of the national audience (Open society Foundations, 2010). Berlusconi, having such an impact on these top media providers, especially during his presidency, becomes a worry for the people of Italy, as to whether the media is fully influenced by Berlusconi’s opinion. Furthermore the public questioning as to whether their main source of broadcast media has a bias outlook. As well as Mediaset there is Sky Italia, this TV platform is owned by Rupert Murdoch a $15.5 Billion net worth media mogul (Forbes, 2018). Having two very powerful mogul’s running a huge area of media landscape to the public is politically worrying as political opinions and outputs can be strongly influence heavily by the audience. TV in Italy appears to be limited with only a few TV companies the main three providers being RAI, Mediaset and Sky Italia, all of which are very politically influenced by both government control and moguls. Therefore the question is asked whether Italy’s media is deliberately constructed this way to ensure opinions are limited and therefore the public being oppressed and unknown to the one-sided output of broadcast media.
The private film distribution industry in Italy is yet again minimal, having only three main distributers: Medusa Film, Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox. Warner and 20th Century Fox being huge conglomerates in the film industry almost worldwide don’t come as a surprise being leading providers in Italian cinema. Opposing to this is Medusa Film the 6th ranking distributor in the world (Mediaset, 2015). The company distributes films and home entertainment such as DVD’s documentaries and cartoons, achieving vertical integration throughout Italy and the world. Although once it was an independent company it is now owned by Mediaset the major conglomerate previously discussed. This is yet again another way of Berlusconi entering another sector of the media industry in Italy to gain further control. Furthermore despite Mediaset owning Medusa film, Warner Bros dominates the cinema spectrum in Italy. Being the leading provider of marketing, distribution of TV and animation in Italy, Warner Bros has a strong role in creating media content for the country. The conglomerate Warner Bros in 2012 took over ‘Medusa Home Video’ leading distributor of home entertainment in Italy. Taking an aspect of Medusa Film from mogul Berlusconi (Warner Bros, 2012). The film sector is one made up by conglomerate’s that dominate the sector not only in Italy, but worldwide. Mediaset continuing to own another large portion of the film sector along-side radio and TV, ensuring the media sector is controlled by minimal leaders.
Social media and privacy is an area in Italy that doesn’t seem to be so politically involved. Italy doesn’t block political, social or religious content online, unlike many countries in the global South do. Websites that contain gambling, child abuse, terrorism and copyright infringement however are blocked and controlled, this is expected and the similar content is blocked worldwide. This freedom of the internet is opposite to the control over broadcasting in Italy, but Italy’s broadband is the lowest for coverage and speed in the EU (Freedom House, 2017). However the social media landscape still encounters issues of privacy, 20 percent of young people disliked the lack of privacy on Facebook. Facebook in Italy is the biggest form of social media but despite the issues of privacy, Italian users continue to engage with the site (Nicolescu, R. 2016).
(Image from Nicolescu, R, 2016 Social media in Southeast Italy : Crafting ideals)
(Diagram shows the social media usage by age in 2016)
Due to the small selection of media distributors and creators in Italy is makes it difficult for cultural diversity to be presented amongst these platforms. A key player in ensuring some cultural diversity is met is within UNESCO. Italy joined UNESCO in 1948 to strengthen ties between nations and create a rich culturally diverse environment (UNESCO Italy, 2018). There are many stories across the world expressing the danger for journalists reporting and being tortured and killed, the same goes for in Italy (www.euronews.com/2018/02/27/six-journalists-killed-in-europe-since-the-start-of-2017). UNESCO work for the safety of journalists as there are growing threats for digital safety, they have a clear framework to promote the importance of safety for journalists. UNESCO do have many clear frameworks for all media platforms, however these are not laws they are just promoted amongst members of UNESCO that are suggested they enforce. This is an issue as it doesn’t ensure safety of people working in the industry or making sure media is culturally diverse and not politically bias, a clear issue within Italy.
Italy’s media landscape is one that is heavily moderated by their government and large industries and in particular, media mogul Berlusconi. It is clear that this strong media authority is in place to ensure that there is one key perspective running through Italy’s media to control its audiences by only feeding them one point of view. However because of the influence in the broadcasting industry, it allows the citizens to have more of a freedom on social media platforms with limited restrictions. Italy clearly prefers a smaller media industry with a few distributors and creators that integrate into different sectors. Does this landscape prevent the media in Italy from expanding and being in sync with other countries that have a variety of media platforms and distributors? Or will Italy always be happy with a simplistic media industry within society.
References:
Barca (2018). The reform of Public Service Broadcasting in Italy. Blog post retrieved from http://www.flaviabarca.it/en/reform-public-service-broadcasting-italy-mission-not-impossible/
Careless (2018). Internet social networks least trusted sources. Retrieved from https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/ebu-says-radio-is-most-trusted-medium-in-europe
Community media Association (2018) Retrieved from http://www.commedia.org.uk/
Forbes (2018). Rupert Murdoch. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/profile/rupert-murdoch/
Forbes (2018). Silvio Berlusconi. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/profile/silvio-berlusconi/
Freedom house (2017). Italy’s media environment. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTN%202017_Italy.pdf
Mediaset (2015). TV Drama & Film Production. Retrieved from http://www.mediaset.it/corporate/televisione/italia/reti/fiction_cinema_en.shtml
Nicolescu, R. (2016). Social media in Southeast Italy: Crafting ideals. (Open Access e-Books). UCL Press.
Pavli (2010). Berlusconi’s chilling effect on Italian Media. Retrieved from https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/berlusconi-s-chilling-effect-italian-media
RAI (2018). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from www.rai.it/dl/docs/1397743611847Code_of_Ethics_ENG.pdf
Smart Expat (2018). Television, Radio Stations and TV Tax in Italy. Retrieved from https://smartexpat.com/italy/how-to-guides/home/services/tv-radio
UNESCO (2018). Italy Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/worldwide/europe-and-north-america/Italy/
Warner bros (2012). Warner Bros. Entertainment Italy. Retrieved from https://www.warnerbros.com/studio/news/warner-bros-entertainment-italy-acquires-medusa-home-video