Italy Project

Multicultural & Ethnic Media It is very important to understand the word Multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is a belief supporting that society should consist of, or at least allow and include, distinct cultural groups, with equal status. Although, after extensive research it is quite obvious that this is not the case in most countries especially Italy. It is safe to make the conclusion that media in Italy blankets the German, French, and Slovene-Italians, Which happen to make up about four percent of the remaining population. They have been what I like to call, “alienated”. Meaning, minorities have not been treated with equal status and therefore have been put aside.
Italy expresses multicultural tension in media: Although Italy seems to have a very unique flavor of citizens living within its borders, some Italians are not very open to having a multicultural or ethnic Italy. Recently on local radio stations this topic has been covered and most of the messages that were portrayed went something like this, “we want Italy not to become a multicultural, multi-ethnic country. We are proud of our culture and of our traditions.” Stated by Silvio Berlusconi, from the much listened to station, “Radio Anch’io.” But even Italians that do welcome foreigners to Italy want them to adapt to their laws and lifestyle without holding the burden to their country with their own customs. Though Italy seems welcoming of all cultures to their city from a birds eye view, most Italians welcome others to come and work, not share their nationality. As stated before Italians are very proud of their culture and many are now making that well known on talk radio stations like the “Radio Anch’io.” Some may also think that even though the feelings of multiculturalism in Italy are mutual, having an ethnic society makes for diversifying the economy and it can be dealt with. But that is also not what the Italians go for. Many people arrive in Europe in places like Italy hoping to gain citizenship however but overwhelmingly they are not invited to do so. Meanwhile, with a population of 56 million, Italy granted citizenship to just 30,000 immigrants last year. And Caritas the nonprofit organization that tracks immigration information says, four of every five euros spent by the Italian government on immigration issues go to getting foreigners out.
About 2.4 million immigrants accompany the country of Italy and as mentioned above accounts for about four percent of Italy’s population. Italy has definitely fallen behind most of Western Europe in terms of incorporating ethnic minorities in media. It is tough for minorities to get a slot or show on television and therefore have engaged in smaller openings, such as local radio stations and brief TV slots. But this is also a dead end because it forces these minorities to cater to there specific taste and ethnic groups (For example: Senegalese and Mandarin news shows) and therefore makes it hard for them (a minority) to target a broader alienated audience.
MEDIA in South Tyrol: South Tyrol is the most preeminent minority media example in Italy today. South Tyrol has a very diverse media landscape, which contains four daily newspapers (two in German and two in Italian), nine weekly papers, one Sunday newspaper, 286 local papers and a large number of other publications. There are German language programmers on radio and television, broadcasted from the state Network RAI and some private radio and television stations in both languages. German and Ladin language radio and television programmers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland can be provided as well. Although South Tyrol is making moves toward a media friendly environment, it still has left many other minority groups outside of the media realm.
There happens to be no present help from legislature in Italy to deal with the constant issue of involving minorities in the media. While in most other European countries there is ongoing debates on these issues which is basically unheard of in Italy.
Events like the Gulf War and 9/11 have gave way to some deserved attention to the small Arab world, making up a small amount of Italy’s population. The facts concerning these two examples, the Gulf War and 9/11 has made there way to the countries main newspapers. This has also brought about a web RAI News channel 24 show called RAI-Med, and is completely devoted to the Arab population of Italy, half of which is televised in Arabic. The point here is why something like a war or 9/11 must occur in order for the country of Italy to finally basically dedicate a TV show to whomever culture the war or crisis may concern.
Research has shown that the following media (TV broadcast, radio & newspapers) has had at least one experience with targeting minority audiences in the past few years. - 16 TV broadcasters - 44 radio networks - 31 newspapers
Some Italians say that there are still too few immigrants and minority groups in Italy to properly even consider including minorities in the media. Others feel that they are thought to be of little interest from a consumer’s standpoint. Not to mention the Television medium is definitely a costly route thus requiring huge investments and because of this, it has made it hard for these minority groups to properly make a media stand. Italian journalism is widely integrated with politics due to the impact of political and economic powers. It is said that the relationship between political sources and mass media is so solid and continuous that it can be described as structural. Whether it be blatantly obvious or not, the content of Italy's mass media is based on the current party's perspective. In addition, news media in Italy is owned by large business corporations and political parties. They are the ones who decide what and what not to publish and when doing so they do not consider its appeal or the journalist's opinions, but the basis of the relationship between the media owners and media organizations.
Television In Italy there are two large groups who share the audience, RAI and Mediaset. RAI is the public group that contains three major channels: RAI uno, RAI due and RAI tres. They require a yearly payment at the beginning of the year from their subscribers. Throughout their three channels they broadcast both national and regional news, films, TV sitcoms, fiction shows, and programs for younger audiences. One thing you will not find on RAI's network is reality television. RAI's president, Claudio Petruccioli, decided against reality television in hopes of improving the quality of their programming.
On the other hand, there is Mediaset. Reality television is broadcast daily across their three channels. They continue to find it popular among young Italians. Mediaset's three channels are: Retequattro, Canale Cinque and Italia Uno. Mediaset does not require a payment from their subscribers since they are supported by publicities. The publicities are shown continuously throughout the programming, running for a few minutes at a time.
Radio: Radio has maintained its presence in Italy. It is ranked after mobile phones and before newspapers in the list of information sources used most by Italians. The radio channels that have the largest listening audience are those of the national company RAI. RAI has three radio channels: RADIORAI uno, RADIORAI due and RADIORAI tres. In addition to the RAI channels, there are also a good amount of local radio stations present on both the local and regional level. Radio programs ususally include music and entertainment, as well as, news updates and commentaries.
Newspapers: A majority of Italy's daily newspapers have a political tendency. It is difficult to find an article written without a biased opinion in any of Italy's newspapers. Most newspapers do not officially declare which party they are in support of;however, you can figure it out just by reading their articles. Italian journalists have "soft" editorials. They have to be careful what they say in their writing, in fear of going against the Italian political party.
RAI(Radiotelevisione Italiana): RAI is the Italian public service broadcaster comprised of three television channels, three radio channels, as well as, satellite and digital offerings. It was one of the first broadcasting organizations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950. RAI receives its profits from both the broadcast license fee and advertising. In the first few decades of their broadcasting, RAI focused on educational programming. RAI's biggest competitor is Mediaset.
Post War RAI played a central part in promoting post war idea of hope and renewal by promoting social togetherness and national inclusion.
Three Major Events that changed Italian Broadcasting: 1.) The Constitutional Court decisions of 225 and 226 The judgments broke up the media monopoly of Italy. Judgment 225 upheld the legitimacy of the national and local terrestrial monopoly (Terrestrial television is a term which refers to modes of television broadcasting which do not involve satellite transmission. The term is uncommon in the United States, and more common in Europe.) Judgment 226 decided that the monopoly could no longer be justified in respect to cable and foreign based channels. The court stated that “Everyone shall have the right to express freely his own thoughts by words, writing, or any other medium.”
2.) The 1975 Italian Broadcasting Act The 1975 Italian Broadcasting Act lead to the divide of the RAI among the political parties. It stated that the RAI should be split into two separate networks (Esposito and Grassi). This split eventually lead to political divide between a catholic culture and the other a lay culture, between Christian Democrats and Socialists.
3.) The Constitutional Court Decision 206 This act granted permission for commercial operators to run television channels on a local basis. This allowed hundred s to thousands of radio and television stations to pop up over night. This lead to buying and selling of frequencies on the black market and increasing of stations to regional and national status. This lead to a monopoly over the three major channels by Silvio Berlusconi.
Reform of public broadcasting Following the collapse of the Christian Democrat regime was lead by corruption scandal, which implicated many powerful figures from both the Christian Democrats and the Socialist party. With the fall RAI faced potential bankruptcy and a lack of power struggle. In order to save the station two main objectives were created.
1.) A desire to on behalf of the government and the new Administration Council to maximize the financial, production, and organizational resources available to RAI and to promote the effect usage of these resource, while retaining a high degree of effectiveness in its various broadcasting operations.
2.) The reappraisal of RAI’s service to the public.