(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF open letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, dated 14 February 2002: Open letter to Mr Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister Mr Prime Minister, Italy is on the verge of becoming the only European Union member state and the only sizable Western democracy where all audio-visual media outlets, both […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF open letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, dated 14 February 2002:
Open letter to Mr Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister
Mr Prime Minister,
Italy is on the verge of becoming the only European Union member state and the only sizable Western democracy where all audio-visual media outlets, both private and public, are controlled either directly or indirectly by the sitting government. A few days from the replacement of the RAI public television network’s board of directors, and just as Parliament is in the process of debating the bill that is supposed to solve the conflict between your activities as a businessman and government leader, we formally ask you today to take note of the seriousness of this situation, which is unparalleled in a democratic country.
On 16 February, RAI’s board of directors, which was appointed by the previous Centre-Left government, will resign. It will probably be replaced by a group of individuals who are, for the most part, close to the ruling coalition which you lead. You already control Mediaset, Italy’s largest private television group, which operates the country’s three main national channels, via the Fininvest holding company. You are also a controlling shareholder of the Mondori group, one of Italy’s main press and publishing groups. In May 2001, you committed yourself to resolving the conflict between your interests in the Mediaset audio-visual group and your duties as head of the executive. Yet, the bill presented by your government, which is currently being debated in Parliament, merely calls for the creation of an agency that would be responsible for ensuring that government officials not take decisions favouring their private interests. The bill does not call into question your authority or influence within the Mediaset group, which you will continue to own, and whose three television channels are led by directors who are your loyal friends.
In such an environment, the country’s three other television channels, RAI’s three public television channels, play the fundamental role of assuring the diversity of audio-visual information in Italy. You have indicated your desire to “remain outside” the process of appointing RAI’s next board of directors. It is nonetheless beyond doubt that the next board will include a majority of personalities who are close to the ruling parties. The speakers of both houses of Parliament, who will appoint the next board of directors’ members, both hail from the ruling coalition. Morover, Mr Umberto Bossi, the third-ranked government official and leader of the populist and federalist Northern League party, has already demanded one of five RAI board positions for his party, “so that [the party’s] ideas will be expressed” on television. Several of your friends have been mentioned as the persons most likely to be appointed to the RAI board. Even if the custom of attributing certain key positions to representatives from the opposition is respected at the three public channels, the next appointments will undoubtedly be driven by political considerations aimed at reinforcing the representation of government parties. As such, the independence and pluralism of audio-visual information in Italy would be directly and seriously compromised, in a way that is unprecedented in post-war Italy. This would create an unprecedented and unacceptable situation for a Western democracy. We cannot overstate the point.
These are the reasons for which we urge you, in your capacity as head of the executive, and in consideration of the specific responsibilities imposed on you through your control of the country’s private television channels, to abandon the traditional policy of dividing the key positions at RAI along political lines. We ask that you search for ways of reinforcing the independence of Italy’s three public television channels, and, to this end, entrust an organisation or an independent agency with the task of studying the issue and making proposals. Finally, we also ask that you publicly commit to preserving the pluralism of audio-visual information in Italy until the next general elections, scheduled for 2006.
In the hope that you will pay close attention to our concerns, Mr Prime Minister, please accept my best wishes.
Robert Ménard
Secretary-General
