Italy

Status: Free
Legal Environment: 10
Political Environment: 10
Economic Environment: 9
Total Score: 29


Freedom of speech and the press is constitutionally guaranteed in Italy. However, under the government of Silvio Berlusconi, the country suffered from an unusually high concentration of media ownership. The former prime minister, through his private holdings and political power over state television networks, controlled 90 percent of the country’s broadcast media during his 2001–2006 premiership. The 2004 Gasparri law on broadcasting, which introduced a number of reforms including preparations for the switch from analog to digital broadcasting, was heavily criticized for providing measures that served Berlusconi’s interests and enabling him to maintain his control of the private media market.
Libel cases continued to burden journalists in Italy during the year. Two lodged by politicians include one lodged by the then Deputy Prime minister Francesco Rutelli and parliamentarian Ferdianando Adornato. In the former case, Rutelli sued the weekly L’Espresso for alleging that he used official travel for personal reasons. In the latter case, Adornato sued for a story in Il Giornale that criticized an apartment that he purchased from a government agency as an example of excessive government privileges.
In January, the government approved antiracism legislation that criminalizes Holocaust denial with potential prison terms of up to four years.
In June the Chamber of Deputies overwhelmingly passed a bill on telephone tapping that regulates the publication of phone call intercepts in the news media. If it passes the Senate, the law would allow the state to fine and imprison journalists who violate a ban on publishing a recording if the investigation is over.
In December, the home of a journalist for the daily La Repubblica was searched in response to an article that he wrote about alleged efforts by Berlusconi to corrupt Italian senators. The news story argues that Berlusconi promised a position in his government to an opposition senator if he helped the former prime minister undermine the government of Romano Prodi.
Despite Berlusconi’s resignation from the premiership, the broadcast media in
Italy remain concentrated, with the state-owned RAI and Berlusconi’s Mediaset
controlling 87.5 percent of the market share.
Nonetheless, a Council of Europe report released in February 2006 demonstrated that despite the concentration of broadcast media ownership in Italy, there is considerable diversity of content in the country’s news and other media. In fact, the print media, which consist of several national newspapers (two of which are controlled by the Berlusconi family), continue to provide diverse political opinions, including those critical of the government.
The government generally does not restrict access to the internet, and roughly 50 percent of the population accessed this medium in 2006. However, the government can block foreign-based internet sites if they contravene national law. After the 2005 London bombings by Islamist extremists, Italy’s Parliament approved a new Anti-terror Law that includes surveillance of the internet and requires one to have a license to operate an internet café.



materiale tratto da http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=362

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Riepilogo anni precedenti

2007:
Status: Free
Legal Environment: 9
Political Environment: 11
Political Environment: 9
Total Score: 29

Status change explanation: Italy’s rating improved from Partly Free to Free primarily as a result of Silvio Berlusconi’s exit as prime minister. Although private broadcast media in Italy are still concentrated in the hands of the Berlusconi-dominated Mediaset, the public broadcaster, RAI, is no longer under his control.
link per approfondimenti: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template...=251&year=2007

2006:
Status: partly free
Legal Environment: 9
Political Influences: 13
Economic Pressures: 13
Total Score: 35

Freedom of speech and of the press are constitutionally guaranteed. However, media freedom remained constrained in 2005 by the continued concentration of media power in the hands of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who controlled 90 percent of the country's broadcast media through his private media holdings and political power over the state television networks.
link per approfondimenti: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template...=251&year=2006