Silvio Berlusconi is now being formally investigated for interfering with the media in Italy. Apparently, Berlusconi is particularly irked with one Michele Santoro, the presenter of a political talk show called AnnoZero. It has to be said that Santoro and his team often probe into the seedier affairs of Italy’s current, and controversial, prime minister.
Reports on the Mills case, plus assertions that Berlusconi is involved with the mafia rattled the tanned supremo’s cage so much that he allegedly gave a television watchdog boss an ear bashing in an attempt to have Santoro’s talk-show silenced. Berlusconi’s attempt, this time, failed, however previous attempts did bear fruit. The partiality of one of Italy’s prime time news programmes, TG1, which goes out at 8 every evening on the RAI 1 Italian government controlled television channel, has been called into question.

Presenter of AnnoZero - Michele Santoro
The TG1 case involved the misreporting of the facts of the now internationally well known bribery case involving English lawyer, John Mills, and Italy’s number one politician, Silvio Berlusconi. On the day that the Mills case was brought to an end by a statute of limitations, the TG1 news reported that Mills had been absolved of all guilt. This was not accurate. The case fizzled out due to Italy’s notoriously slow legal mechanisms which often brings cases to an inconclusive end. It would have been more accurate to have reported that the case had been brought to an end by Italy’s statutory limitation laws. Such a report, however, would not have made Italy’s master, Silvio Berlusconi look too good.
What may well have happened, but we will probably never know for sure, is that the right leaning Augusto Minzolini, the editor of the TG1 news programme concerned, received advice from upon high as to how to present the conclusion of the Mills’ bribery case. The advice was designed to ensure that someone, possibly Italy’s prime minister, was bathed in a favourable light. The TG1 case caught a fair amount of attention, but has not caused much of a stir, owning to the power someone exerts over Italy’s television.
Reportedly, Berlusconi controls around 90% of Italy’s media, a figure which, I think many will agree, is somewhat excessive for a serving prime minister in what is supposed to be a democracy. Indeed, such a high level of control is not good for democracy. Not good at all. Now, though, the clever Mr Berlusconi, who is trying hard to gloss over recent, and embarrassing bungles regarding this weekend’s regional elections, amongst other scandals, has been claiming that he is the democratic one, and that it is everybody else who is undemocratic.
Hang on a moment – but who is being investigated for trying to keep his opponents off air?
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