Alessio Mannino
ilribelle.com
The assumption of a free press is that editors do
only publishers. Exactly
the opposite of what happens here in Italy.
Although Berlusconi's government has recently dealt a blow to the transparency of companies with a proprietary leggina1 extending the company "trust", ie without the requirement to declare who are the holders of shares or bonds, including the publishing sector is yet possible to determine who are the masters of information in Italy. The real bosses, in the literal sense. Just a search on the website of CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa) and voila ownership, major holdings, and even the giants of the shareholders' agreements that influence public opinion in the country. Except for marginal or lame actors minori2, controlling what the Italians should or should not know are in fact seven major groups: RCS Mediagroup, Mediaset, Mondadori, Gruppo L'Espresso, Il Sole 24 Ore Group, Group Riffeser, the Caltagirone Group, Media Telecom Italy. The Seven Sisters of the (mis) information.
"True freedom print is to tell people what the people would not want to hear, "said George Orwell, Big Brothers of that, having been prescient, and the coiner, he meant. People are soaked every day for news but ignore completely, or nearly so, under what economic and financial powers meet those that manufacture. The interests of Italian publishers are not "pure", that is concentrated solely in the editorial (as in Germany, for example), but extend to many different fields. This basic data, which explains why certain things are made known and others not, and makes possible their decoding is done scientifically to remain in the shadows. The news of the news is a non-news. For this we give our account here, but a summary overview that gives you an idea, we hope, sufficiently clear dome that maneuver from journalism flag.
RCS RCS owns the Corriere della Sera, traditionally considered the most important Italian newspaper. The holding company is highly branched, ranging from publishing book (Rizzoli), newspapers (in addition to the previously mentioned Corser, the Gazzetta dello Sport City and the free press), periodicals (as attachments to the Courier Magazine, Io Donna, Style, and Then the world, Anna, Amica, Novella 2000, Max, Sportweek, Astra, Brava home Casamica), the radio (radio play, Agr Radio, Radio CRN, Rin Digital Radio). In Spain, newspapers are owned by the Rcs El Mundo Expansion (economics) and Marco (sport). The share capital is held by an iron syndicate that owns 60% of the shares, consisting of the biggest names in Italian industry and finance (the "parlor"): Mediobanca (investment bank), Fiat (Auto), Group Pesenti (cement), Ligresti Group (construction), Diego Della Valle (clothing), Pirelli (telecommunications), Banca Intesa, Generali (insurance), Capitalia, Sinpar (steel), Merloni Invest (financial), Mittel (financial), Eridanus (financial), Edison (energy), Gemina (Financial), Benetton (clothing, highways, motorway services, telecommunications), the manufacturer Roman Toti. The braided together form a tangle of power that is apparent all the rage blatant conflict of interest in Italian. A few examples. Mediobanca Mediolanum and is owned by Fininvest, which has set up the board Marina Berlusconi, daughter of the Prime Minister Silvio, owner of Mediaset. Participates in the Global Understanding, which is also Unicredit (and the same Capitalia and Mediobanca). The Fiat Group, the owner found one of the other historical national daily, La Stampa. Group Telecom, a shareholder of the pact, Italy Media Telecom is, at its Once one of the Seven Sisters. Finally, the RCS has a market share of 7.5% in Poligrafici Publishing, a company which belongs to another giant rival, the Group Riffeser.
-Mondadori
Mediaset Mediaset media empire is the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Its three analog channels, Canale 5 Italy One and Retequattro, form the other half of heaven Italian television. The three public broadcasters RAI are still subject to the wishes of the Knight, as head of government: in fact the choice of directors and network switches for Palazzo Chigi Tigga and internal alchemy for the majority of the time, with the cliques of Viale Mazzini with hat in hand to reclaim seats. That Berlusconi is the first private group in Italy and one of the largest in Europe (Spain owns 20% of the share). The advertising agency, Publitalia, has primacy in advertising revenues, and provided the first pictures of Forza Italy in the 90s. Through its parent company Fininvest, the Berlusconi family also owns the Mondadori publishing major books in the country, and is present in Capitalia and Mediobanca (and thus in RCS). Are part of the galaxy Mondadori Einaudi, Sperling & Kupfer, Electa, Random House Mondadori. Magazines and radio: Panorama, TV smiles and songs, Who, modern woman, Grace, Auto today, Currency, House alive, confidence, Economy, Flair, Focus, TV Guide, Men's Health, Prometheus, Fitness, Sale & Pepe, Cosmopolitan, Modern Kitchen, new business, Ciak, Radio 101.
As you can see, the grip on the construction of the collective, which passes though not particularly from the entertainment media, sees a preponderance of Berlusconi's political editor. The premier's brother, Paul, is the owner of the newspaper Il Giornale. The abnormal conflict of interest that involves our premier, unique in the world (his business extends to finance, real estate business, film, football), has become a joke, never resolved, even claimed on the grounds that the voters vote, however, is the workhorse of a center who has never lifted a finger, even when he was in power, to put an end.
Espresso
direct rival Mediaset universe is the Espresso Group, whose owner is an engineer Carlo De Benedetti (whose son Mark is the Italian representative of the fund Carlyle, powerful American private equity in the areas of arms, telecommunications and energy). The heads subsidiaries ranked first in the newspaper founded by Eugenio Scalfari and by the late Carlo Caracciolo, The Republic (with annexes: On Friday, D La Repubblica delle Donne, Health, Find Rome, Milan Find, Metropolis, XL, Velvet, Business & Finance), and the weekly L'Espresso. Also: Micromegas, Limes, Italy National Geographic, Scientific American, Il Tirreno La Nuova Sardegna, Messaggero Veneto Il Piccolo, Gazzetta di Mantova, Il Mattino di Padova La Provincia Pavese, The Centre, The Tribunadi Treviso Gazzetta di Reggio La Nuova Ferrara Nuova Gazzetta di Modena La Nuova Venezia, The City. Besides De Benedetti, a shareholder other relevant partners are the General (including RCS), Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trieste and the "Empress" Giulia Maria Crespi (star of the 70 turbulent period of the Courier, now head of Environment Fund Italian). Important market subsidiaries Capital Radio and Radio Deejay, All Music television and the advertising agency A. Manzoni. Repubblica.it Kataweb and are among the most visited websites.
Sole 24 Ore Il Sole 24 Ore is the first Italian financial daily, and is owned by Confindustria, in which we find, as entrepreneurs, many of the names that populate the top of the Seven Sisters. Gruppo Il Sole 24 Ore also has news agency, Thomson Financial, an arm and Radio, Radio 24, as second only to radio information to Rai. The Confederation is traditionally pro-government, ranking depending on where you pull the wind with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo close to Prodi, the current president Emma Marcegaglia close to Berlusconi.
Riffeser
Riffeser The family, with Maria Luisa Monti Riffeser (57%) and the CEO Andrea Riffeser (7%) holds the group referred to by the national newspaper, Il Giorno, La Nazione, Il Resto del Carlino and the advertising Spe. should be borne in mind, though, that newspapers are under the control of the Editorial Poligrafici in turn 60% owned by Maria Luisa (along with a minority interest in RCS). There is also the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trieste (almost 3%), which we already recorded between the shareholders of the Espresso Group.
Caltagirone Caltagirone Editore is the expression of the manufacturer (Cementir Vianini) and Roman financier Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone (you are a shareholder of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena and an adviser to General). is father of Pier Ferdinando Casini, secretary of the UDC, and has cross friendships (especially with the recent mayors Rome, Rutelli and Veltroni). The group includes the Messenger, the Morning, the Gazzettino, Corriere Adriatico and the New Life with Puglia, the leader of the free press I read and portal Caltanet, dealers Piemme and Northern Area Regional Telefriuli Spa issuer.
Telecom
La La 7 TV network printing agency AGI are the pride of Italy Telecom Media, the multinational communications company Telecom led by Franco Bernabe (and whose board are Tarek Ben Ammar, financier Tunisian friend of Berlusconi, economists Jean Paul Fitoussi and Luigi Zingales, former President Fs Elio Catania, Berardino Libonati former lawyer and former Alitalia Eni and the board of Mediobanca, Pirelli and Nomisma). The chain of actions and thick: the first, with 24%, is the English-Italian consortium Telco Spa (Mediobanca, Assicurazioni Generali, Intesa Sanpaolo and Benetton-tuning Telefónica SA), then there are Findim the Groupe SA, the Luxembourg financial Fossati family, and a myriad of foreign investors (Lcc Brandes Investment Partners, BNP Paribas SA, Alliance Bernstein LP) and Italian.
Statism
The main news agency, ANSA, is owned by almost all major newspapers, and the AGI is the Giuseppe Marra Communications. The ease and Eni, state energy company. About State: rain each year from public coffers generous subsidies to the entire system of agencies, information base of all the newspapers, radio news and news programs, and grants amounted to publishing one billion euro a year. Let's see how. Just for the press, come out of our pockets milioni3 600 (including direct subsidies, tax credit for the paper, postal facilities, access to finance for investment tax credit for investment, fund reimbursements for mobility and broadcasting). Other 180 million by Providence for radio and TV and local aid from the Ministry of Telecommunications. With agencies and with the RAI convention are equivalent to 120 million, not counting those stipulated by the various ministries, institutions and regions. Finally, 10 million for direct parliamentary Radical Radio. is magna-magna denounced by Beppe Grillo V-Day with her second on information. Binge, it is worth emphasizing, involving not only the sheets of the governing bodies of the movements, more or less cooperative publishing fake, heads of the Catholic Church, the Italian newspapers spread abroad, but above all the same giants that share the advertising pie. And maybe that preach the virtues of free markets and saving mount campaigns against the moralizing Casta arraffona4. Il Sole 24 Ore he gets almost 20 million €. Ditto to the espresso. Rcs grabs 23 million €. La Stampa 7 million. The Group Riffeser more than 3 million. The Future, the voice of the Italian Episcopal Conference, over 10 million. Libero, Il Foglio and Il reform, all three in the trenches against welfarism and waste policy, together take home about 11 million €.
Primus inter pares
According to the latest figures provided by the Authority for Communications, the press did not get to rack up 30% of advertising, and television more than 55% (with Mediaset, which is to make the part Lion, Sky and News Corp's Rupert Murdoch put a stop to 6%, despite having passed this year advertising revenues from Mediaset) 5. RAI and Mediaset, dominated by a single man, they are setting up a satellite platform with the seven common, so as to avoid the monopoly of Murdoch in this technology. Doing so, however, Rai suddenly lose 60 million advertising revenues for the benefit of the covenant-tormentor Mediaset. Meanwhile, all the major conurbations editorial, to address the reduction of revenue due to economic crisis (25% less than last year), are cutting staff and programs of investment. And who benefits from it, as usual, is only the Raiset monster with the 7 and the local televisioncine to gather the crumbs that are advancing.
The Italians read little, prefer to watch television. This is the almost unchallenged reign of Silvio Berlusconi, who is also head of the government. The case of Europa 7, in this sense, is emblematic of the generalist TV Francesco Di Stefano, blocked for years for bipartisan agreement in violation of the law which gave him the right of access to frequencies Retequattro, has suffered yet another hoax vedersene allocated in such quantity as not to cover the whole country, staying out once again market. Cherry end, the silent partner of the entire system, advertising, sees him always in a dominant position which, together with the crowded company of actors with the ubiquitous sit in that board and that other companies in turn embedded in shared and so on, is, primus inter pares with his famous smile to 24 teeth, the most blatant affront to what is ipocritamente chiamata “informazione”. Sarebbe meglio ribattezzarla manipolazione. Col fondamentale corollario dell’occultamento dei suoi mandanti e beneficiari.
