By Ron Kaufman

During the 1st Century AD, Roman satirist Juvenal coined the term "Panem et Circenses" to describe the method by which Roman Caesars would exert control over the populace. Translated as "Bread and Circuses," Juvenal was poking fun at how easy it was for the Caesar to make Romans forget important matters of society and state and instead focus on feasting and revelry. Apparently, little has changed in the intervening millennia -- the current leader in Rome is once again using bread and circuses in an attempt to appease the masses.

Silvio Berlusconi is the richest man in Italy. According to Forbes, Berlusconi is worth more than $10 billion (US) and is ranked as the 30th richest person in the world. The cornerstone of the Berlusconi empire is the incredibly successful Fininvest investment holding company. Through Fininvest, Berlusconi owns television, radio and newspapers that reach 90% of the Italian populace. In addition to numerous banking, insurance and publishing interests, Berlusconi also owns the AC Milan soccer team. In 2001, Berlusconi was not also Italy's richest citizen, he was also elected its prime minister.

It is certainly not a stretch to say that Berlusconi rules Italy. Though his political party suffered a slight loss of power in the June 2004 mid-term elections, Berlusconi's influence over

Italian politics and society does not appear to be diminishing anytime soon. With an estimated value of more than €17 billion (euro), Fininvest is a classic example of the modern monopolistic conglomerate. The company boasts to have around 20,000 employees and is "one of the biggest companies in Italy and one of the world's leading companies in the media and entertainment sectors." The company was founded in 1961 by Silvio Berlusconi and today, his children run many aspects of the corporation. The company is dominant in nearly every area of media in Italy. The Berlusconi empire includes television, magazine and book publishing, a major film studio, online information directories, extensive financial services and a major European soccer team. Fininvest even runs an Internet search engine in Italian. The group also includes Edilnord and Cantieri Riuniti Milanesi development and construction firms.

Its television group, called Mediaset, had an annual revenue in 2003 of more than €3 billion and includes Canale 5, the most popular primetime television channel in Italy. The channel's programming includes variety shows (Arrivano i nostri), soap operas (Beautiful), reality shows (Volere o volare), and news outlets (Tg5) as well as showing many American programs such as Judging Amy (Guidice Amy), The Sopranos (I Soprano), NYPD Blue, and Star Trek. Mediaset's two other networks, Italia 1 and Rete 4, have similar lineups. The three networks account hold a solid 45% audience share and take in 60% of total Italian television advertising sales.

Mediaset's vast holdings also include the Radio Italia national commercial radio network, the Editoriale Sper advertising agency, the CNR syndication company and the AGR news agency. It also owns several pay-TV channels, Spanish channel Telecinco, and part of several other European media networks.

In Italy, there has developed the concept of "Berlusconism" which describes a way of life in which people live in houses built by Berlusconi, shop in supermarkets owned by Berlusconi, eat in restaurants controlled by Berlusconi, root for sports teams owned by Berlusconi and watch TV channels owned by Berlusconi. And now, those subject to Berlusconism are also ruled by Berlusconi.

In 1993, Berlusconi created his own political party called Forza Italy (Go Italy). He was elected prime minister in 1994 after forming a coalition with the right-wing pseudo-fascist National Alliance and Northern League parties. Similar to the viciousness of male hyenas quarreling over a female, the three parties started a bitter fight soon after the election. The result was Berlusconi's indictment for tax fraud by a Milan court and his exit from office within seven months.

Ironically, Berlusconi had won in 1994 on his "Operation Clean Hands" platform which promised to eliminate political corruption.

During the next seven years, Berlusconi reorganized his party and moved its political stance from the far-right to the center-right. With the help of his vast media empire, he became prime minister again in 2001.

Berlusconi does not hide his right-wing conservative political views. He has said: "Eighty-five per cent of the Italian press is left-wing and among the judges it is even worse... There is a cancer in Italy that we have to treat: the politicization of the magistracy" and "Out of love for Italy, I felt I had to save it from the left." Not a person to hold his tongue, Berlusconi has made disparaging remarks about Germans and Muslims and is not well liked throughout Europe.

The Economist magazine remarked on the eve of his election that "Mr. Berlusconi is not fit to lead the government of any country, least of all one of the world’s richest democracies." (April 26, 2001) The magazine highlighted allegations against him for illegal political contributions, tax evasion, mafia connections and judicial bribery. "Mr Berlusconi as prime minister would mark a dark day for Italian democracy and the rule of law," said the magazine.

A PBS documentary called Does Berlusconi Threaten Italian Democracy? notes that "critics suggest that Berlusconi's combination of political power and editorial control have endangered freedom of the press in Italy." PBS (the American Pubic Broadcasting Service) notes that Berlusconi controls, directly or indirectly, nearly 90% of Italian television. "Forty percent of the sound bytes on all news programs show Berlusconi speaking to the public. On the public airwaves, he speaks more, five times more, than any other political figure. You can't buy advertising like that," author Alexander Stille told PBS.

Through Berlusconi's own admission, news on Rete 4 is orchestrated to be pro-government and pro-Berlusconi. The Economist recently noted that "Mr. Berlusconi has yet to remove the ubiquitous conflicts between his private and public concerns. Because his companies are embroiled in almost every part of the economy, his failure to do so casts doubts on the motives behind so many of his projects, whatever their merits." (January 19, 2002)

According to journalist Stille, while promoting right-wing free market and anti-communist causes, Berlusconi is making behind-the-scenes deals to ensure his continued political dominance and media monopoly. "Berlusconi, of course, is in the media business, in the information business. In the new economy that we all live in, information is a huge part of the economy," said Stille.

"He . . . owns TV stations [and] other information businesses. If somebody has a monopoly position, and wants to keep that monopoly position, it means that you are effectively shutting out competition from other sources. And, despite the fact that Berlusconi pays a lot of 'lip service' to being a free marketeer, you have nothing close to a free market in Italy in the businesses where he's present. And he's present almost everywhere.

"So I think that's a very, very unhealthy situation for Italy as a whole. And a reason why somebody shouldn't have so much public and private power together."

Corruption has been standard-operating-procedure in Italian politics for decades and many voters feel Berlusconi is good for Italy. However, the influence of Berlusconi by controlling the government as well as major media outlets is unique. The Berlusconi control of television gives this prime minister unparalleled power.

"You can find almost any point of view represented if you scour the book shops or read the the vast number of newspaper that appear every day," said Stille. "But on television you don't have that same pluralism. Television, whether we like it or not, is the way that a vast majority of Italians, a vast majority of Americans, get their news. And there there's much much less pluralism and the control is much more total exercised by Berlusconi."

Until the 1970s, the only television in Italy was public television provided by RAI. Established in 1954, RAI 1 was the first TV channel in Italy. With the creation of Telemilano in 1978 and the beginning of Berlusconi's TV networks, new programming was introduced.

"He brought into Italy the culture of Dallas, Dynasty, Baywatch [and] Wheel of Fortune," commented Stille. Now, of course, its the culture of C.S.I., Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Wrestling Smackdown!, and Walker Texas Ranger.

Bread and Circuses.

As prime minister, the Berlusconi government controls the funding for RAI and indirectly influences its content. Between RAI and Mediaset, Berlusconi controls around 90% of Italian television. For example, Mediaset's TG news service will highlight pro-Berlusconi news stories as well as promoting television programs on the Mediaset network, the Milan soccer team and movies produced by other Berlusconi outlets. Fininvest is a vertically structured media monopoly with disturbing similarity to the holdings of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Some contend that after his election in 2001, Berlusconi moved to eliminate any on-screen TV personalities who contradicted his governmental policies. A documentary produced by Free Speech TV called "Pirate TV: A way to oppose monopoly in the information world" investigates the growing number of pirate TV broadcasts in Italy.

The documentary notes that those critical or suspicious of the prime minister are "marginalized, neglected or removed." Respected journalists such as Enzo Biagi and Michele Santoro were fired and their political talk shows cancelled. Comedians, such as Daniele Luttazzi, who poked fun at the Berlusconi were also not tolerated and saw their shows cancelled. In Italy, only talk shows hosted by television journalists friendly to the government are shown on TV.

The first pirate TV effort in Italy was called Orfeo TV. Because the station's broadcasts are not sanctioned by the government, it is technically illegal. The Free Speech TV documentary notes that more than 100 illegal television stations have formed throughout Italy. Most stations, however, only have a broadcast range of a few hundred meters.

Ambrogio Vitali, co-founder of Orfeo TV, said that the monopolistic control of media in Italy has forced citizens to create alternative forms of information technology. “[Since] the victory of Silvio Berlusconi in the May 13, 2001 elections in Italy, a particular situation has been created. Now there is a single voice that speaks to the citizens, a single voice that contributes to the formation of the social mind and of public opinion, and this is the voice of Silvio Berlusconi," he said.

"[Berlusconi] not only controls public TV, but also owns the 3 most important national television channels, plus newspapers and magazines. This is a totally unacceptable situation for a modern democracy. Not only unacceptable, this is a most serious [problem], one that every citizen and every democratically minded person has to refuse."

In 2004, small chinks have been cut into the Berlusconi media monolith. During mid-term elections in June 2004, Forza Italia won just 19.8% of the vote in European elections which was its worst defeat in the polls since its formation. Its main opposition, the center-left Olive Tree party, won 34.1% of the vote. Then in July 2004, Berlusconi's two oldest children, Pier Silvio and Marina Berlusconi were being investigated for money-laundering. Pier Silvio is on the board of directors of Fininvest and is deputy chairman of Mediaset. Marina is deputy chairwoman of Fininvest.

Berlusconi, however, continues to pursue his quest for complete media dominance. Using his influence over the government, his political party continues to push through new media laws which alter ownership structures. The Gasparri Law, which faced stiff opposition when it was introduced in January 2004, would allow TV networks to directly own newspapers and expand their advertising boundaries beyond the status quo. Mediaset would be free to expand. Additionally, the law was increase the government's control over RAI, the Italian public TV network.

A European Union watchgroup, The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), has denounced the situation in Italy. The group's Representative on Freedom of the Media has demanded a separation between politics and media. OSCE warns that a concentrated media in the hands of government is a "challenge to freedom."

The group writes that "a good and acceptable solution in Italy could set an important example in the future of how to disentangle government control and the independence of media" for the rest of the EU. "On the other hand," says the watchgroup, "an unacceptable half-way solution, which might be interpreted as a hidden non-separation, might allow leaders in some of the newly emerging democracies to misuse the example of Italy and insist on at least partially controlling the media."

Free markets serve people the best when businesses compete on a level playing field. A monopoly, or oligopoly in the case of the wealthy Berlusconi, only serve those in control. Democracy loses and free speech is weakened -- or destroyed.

What is the answer? A media revolution? Turn off your TV?

Media ownership and control is THE democratic issue of the new millennium -- and the crisis in Italy runs deep.

©2004 by Ron Kaufman @ TurnOffYourTV.com