Map of Italy

As a wealthy, industrialized country within the European Union, Italy is unique in the degree of criticism it receives from media watchdogs. Advocacy organizations note that Italy generally observes freedom of the press, but have recently given warnings regarding key trends and events.

The most-publicized of these is the close relationship in Italy between political power and commercial and state media. In Italy, the country’s richest man, the controller of 90 percent of all broadcast television, and the head of government are all one and the same: Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi’s critics warn that his political power is limiting press freedom, and that his media power is distorting the political process. Berlusconi recently resolved a key national controversy over media consolidation in his favor, by his own decree as prime minister — at the expense of media diversity and competition. Critics also argue that Berlusconi has exercised political power, in turn, to influence media, both by “softening” the reporting of Berlusconi’s more inflammatory statements and by forcing the removal of some media executives from key positions.

Another topic that has raised concern among journalists was the treatment of press by police throughout the protests surrounding the July 2001 Group of Eight (G-8) summit in Genoa. Charges leveled against the police included beatings, a raid on an independent media center, and attempts by police to infiltrate protest groups by disguising themselves as journalists.

Another less well-known, yet all-too-real, threat to press freedom in Italy is violence perpetrated against journalists researching local politics and corruption. This has been a problem particularly in the southern islands, where journalists in both Sicily and Sardinia have been attacked or shot at because of their work.