Sarkozy likes the BBC, possibly!
UPDATE: 14.01.08 - Having now read more of the articles in Il Sole, I can now understand why the paper used the headline saying that ‘State TV without advertising would not work’. The article basically argues that just about all TV and Internet, is only possible due to advertising. Whilst this is partially true, I would still point out that the BBC does very well without ads, although the BBC does, cleverly, use other ways to generate finance - and, ads are shown on BBC world - although they seem to be very targeted and very slick.
One final thing is that thanks to the recent intervention of one Gentiloni, who introduced a law designed to cut down conflicts of interest (read Berlusconi and Mediaset), a Sarkozy approach to the funding of State TV cannot work in Italy. But, laws can be changed…and often are here. End of update.
Well, he appears to like the fact that the BBC, the UK’s state TV service, is advertising free. I read about this in Il Sole 24 Ore, although the front page leader’s headline had me rather confused - it read ‘Una tv pubblica senza spot alla fine dinventerà inutile’, which translated reads: ‘State TV without advertising will turn out to be useless’. Although the article under the headline did not actually reinforce this view. And nor did the main articles oddly enough, although I shall read them all again to see if I’ve missed something.
What have Sarkozy, and the BBC got to do with Italy, aside from the fact that both were reported in an Italian newspaper? Quite a lot, actually. You see, Italian TV has been under attack recently for its patent lack of decent quality programming. Which is, incidentally, something I go on about on this blog. Finally, it appears, the message is getting though. Not that my ravings will have had any influence I imagine. What the heck, at least I know I am not at all alone in my view that Italian TV is pretty appalling.
It would appear that the complaints of others here in Italy have finally started to stir a few into something close to action, hence the interest in Sarkozy’s ideas. If the French president gets his way, and ads disappear from French state TV, then Italy may even consider doing the same. ‘What about cash?’, you may be asking. Sarkozy has got this covered too, and his ideas are quite innovative. The guy is obviously rather more tech-savvy than Italy’s bunch of pensioner politicians.
What the spritely French young (ish) whipper-snapper of a politician is proposing is that TV funding is gleaned from a tax on mobile phones, Internet, and private TV stations. This tax will be infinitesimal according to him. Not a bad idea, if you ask me. I think I would happy pay another 50 Eurocents per minute of mobile conversation in return for ad free TV here. This innovative funding method would also appeal to the Italian government and their TV channels, because Italians are not the worlds most willing TV licence fee payers.
So, no ads, and plenty of cash, potentially. Next on the agenda is sorting out the quality, and Italian TV may even turn out to be a more worthy competitor to the World Wide Web. OK, this is very wishful thinking.
More waiting and seeing.
Heck I’ve been a bit slow - Prodi is trying to gag Italy’s bloggers!
Those erstwhile politicos who purport to ‘run’ Italy, have come up with a nice little proposal for a law that will effectively ban personal blogs. Obviously Beppe Grillo’s efforts to bring Italy’s public employees to heel has got them all rather worried.
The politicians control just about all the official press here, and the TV. Now they want the Internet to be censored too. Heck, I thought Italy was supposed to be a Republic, a free country, and now this. Talk about despotic regimes - Prodi and his mob are up there with the worst of them. This whole affair has stirred up a worldwide commotion and the proposed law is becoming obfuscated by the recent introduction of Article 7. One wonders whether Italy’s politicians a) really represent the interests of the people of Italy b) realise that they are in the 21st century. The Times also has an article that give some more details of this blatant attempt to end freedom of speech in Italy. The headline sums the situation up nicely.
If anyone sets up a fund to fight this ridiculous proposal in the European Court Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, I’ll be one of the first to donate. This cannot be allowed to continue.
The sheer fact that Prodi is trying to get such a law passed is probably evidence enough of the possible absence of worth of the large majority of Italian politicians. And dear old Bertinotti - the er ‘communist’… Has he ‘the representative of the common man’ come out against this? Well, if you find anything referring to his comments, do please let me know, coz I can’t. But then again, ‘communism’, the ex-Soviet Union type and that practised in China, has always done its level best to stifle the voice of the populous.
And so Prodi, the, er, non-communist (I think he’s a funny sort of socialist) is trying to put a definitive end to democracy in Italy. And this guy was voted in?
Jeepers, can you believe it? Funny country Italy. Beppe Grillo - work your magic, and work it fast. Your country needs you, desperately.
What an appalling situation in this day and age in a western ‘democracy’.
When life isn’t - unless you are a mouse.
life (Slang.) A sentence of imprisonment lasting till death.
The above definition has always been my understanding of what is often referred to as a ‘life’ prison sentence. In simple terms, life imprisonment meant that the guilty party would spend, if not the rest of his life, a very long time in prison. Very long time = 20 years plus.
However, under English law ‘life’ prison sentences now bear little relation to the life of those convicted in what seems to be an ever increasing series of cases. Unless you consider that the life to which they refer is the lifespan of your average mouse.
There have been two particularly nasty cases of child abuse in the UK press recently, one of which is mentioned in this article. There is the other horrific case here - it is appalling, so be warned.
In both situations ‘life’ sentences where handed out; only the legal definition of ‘life’ seems to have changed from the traditional concept, unless, as I mentioned before, you happen to be sending mice or possibly rabbits to prison.
The cases I’ve linked to this entry are by no means in a minority, or so it would seem from what I have been reading, which is why I have decided to write something. Supposedly, Blair and his mob have been changing the sorry state of the law in the UK to take into account the effects of crime on its victims and not treat those who react to crimes against them or their property as criminals. Before Blair’s attempts, you might as well have invited a thief into your house and said ‘help yourself, mate.’, because if you had hit the poor chap and injured him, you would have been treated as the bad guy in the situation and would have ended up in one of HM’s prisons, whereas the chap who had called all the upset would have probably walked free and had a go at suing you for compensation. Absurd, totally upside down. Now, at least this situation has been, partially, put right. Only they still seem to be treating criminals as a down trodden minority in need of mercy. OK, sometimes this is true, but when certain individuals re-offend almost as soon as they set foot outside of prison, then something, somewhere is not right.
I can see this, why can’t the politicos? Good question. Or is it possible that the MP’s are too busy powdering their noses and worrying about their public images to be actually doing anything useful. Nah, this could not be true. Silly thought. Forget I even said it. Maybe.
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