News Anchors Sudden Firing Stuns Italians, Media Watchers

Tg5 director and anchorman Enrico Mentana ended the evening newscast saying that it was his last.

Enrico Mentana

The Mediaset board told Mentana they wanted an immediate change. Mentana told the viewers: “This evening I finish my job at Tg5. I think the company has the right to choose the director. Equally obvious is my displeasure.”

Tg5 - Channel 5 - is one of three television channel owned by Mediaset, the television and advertising company controlled by Fininvest, the Berlusconi family multi-media empire. Tg5 has shown, however modestly, some level of editorial independence. Italian media watchers fear that independence ends with Mentana’s replacement, Carlos Rossella, director of Panorama, a magazine owned by the Berlusconi family publishing company Mondadori.

Beginning more than 30 years ago, Silvio Berlusconi raised Fininvest from family construction and real estate company to media empire. He is considered the richest man in Italy. Fininvest owns Mediaset, owner of free-to-air TV channels Tg5, Italia 1 and Rete Quattro and the dominant media buying house in Italy, Publitalia 80. It also owns the publishing house Mondadori, estimated to control just under one-third of Italy’s publishing and just under one-half of the magazine market. Daughter Marina is vice president of Fininvest and president of Mondadori. Son Piersilvio is vice president of Mediaset.

It has been the news broadcasts on Tg5, directed by Mentana, that Berlusconi supporters pointed to as evidence of a hands-off attitude toward journalism. The channel took positions against the war in Iraq, broke news of corruption indictments and aired in entirety the more infamous Berlusconi gaffs. The other Mediaset TV channels are far more restrained in their news coverage.

Silvio Berlusconi is not, however, CEO of Fininvest. He has another job: Prime Minister of Italy. Through that position he controls three other television channels, public broadcaster RAI. The firing of Enrico Mentana appears to be just the latest move to shut the critical eye.

RAI president Lucia Annunziata resigned in May citing pressure of political control over executive appointments as an “ultimate act of an organized campaign by the majority coalition to take full control of public broadcasting.” She said RAI had become little more than a “mailbox” for government demands.

Annunziata’s resignation followed within a week the departure of high profile RAI news anchor Lilli Graber, who called Berlusconi’s influence over RAI “damaging.”  At the same time Freedom House – a media advocacy NGO – ranked Italy 74th in the world for media independence, in the same league with Mali, Albania, Mongolia and Berkina Faso.

In July the Italian parliament voted out the entire four-member Berlusconi appointed RAI board. The move was largely symbolic as the Prime Minister maintains control over all RAI appointments. 

Thus, Silvio Berlusconi has become a symbol for unrestrained media concentration.

 

 

 

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi with US President George W. Bush

Media concentration deeply concerns European parliamentarians. Fears of media power concentrated in single or few hands are raised with the names Murdock, Berlusconi and Clear Channel. National legislation meant to curb private media concentration is in place in most European countries, though limits on ownership can run afoul of EU internal markets and competition rules. The UKs recently revised broadcast law liberalized ownership restrictions, allowing the merger of radio companies Capital Radio and GWR Group but raising fears that the demonized Clear Channel lurks nearby, ready to pounce on unsuspecting broadcasters. Indeed, Brussels lawmakers attempted to draft legislation that would bring Berlusconi’s media influence in line with the rest of Europe.

Public broadcasters consistently support efforts to restrain private sector concentration, though a study prepared by the Dutch EU presidency and released in May showed that much of the concentration in European media is, so the study stated, in the hands of the public sector.

Media concentration – at least a degree – has increasing support from national regulators. In both Sweden and Switzerland regulators have changed rules with the last year to allow networking and more ownership concentration, preferring that to ineffective and under-capitalized local broadcasters.

Public calls for more media concentration are, though, very rare. Most private commercial broadcasters see no benefit – or public support – for casting their public image with Murdock, Berlusconi or Clear Channel.

 

 

Mel Karmazin

One notable exception – albeit from a US broadcaster – is Mel Karmazin, former Viacom COO. In the keynote address to the NAB/Europe radio conference in Lisbon last week (November 8), Karmazin said more, not less, concentration was necessary for radio to maintain investors interest and to answer increased consolidation in the advertising industry.  

Mentana has been reassigned within Mediaset as head of news, a newly created position.

"Either Mediaset really wants to use me, as it says, to bring about a change in its news and current affairs, or we've been messing around,” he said in a interview published Friday in La Repubblica. “For the moment, I am prepared to trust them. We shall see."