Least favorite quote from the article:
"Better Berlusconi than Gordon Brown, sad and boring."
Carlo Rossella, La Stampa

Favorite reader comment:
"...don't be surprised for what write italian newspapers most of them are servants of Mr. Berlusconi."
alberto, modena, Italy

Each to his own I guess... but if we're all honest with ourselves, life here isn't ALL like that described by Mr.Parish.

'I' know some is true, but in comparison, manners and behaviour in public are a zillion times better in Italy than in the UK - thank you very much! (mind you, I have to say that many young Italians ARE learning quickly from their British counterparts)

And as for 'choice' of politicians - well nobody's perfect. Least of all the British and the Italians so on that question "Chi se ne frega!"
Both countries got what they VOTED for! Except GB slipped in by default...

Carole, did you note that the "journalist" quoted was from La Stampa (owned by Berusconi)? The Italian commenter is spot-on.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:
Carole, did you note that the "journalist" quoted was from La Stampa (owned by Berusconi)? The Italian commenter is spot-on.

Il Giornale is owned by Berlusconi, La Stampa is not.

Yes.
La Stampa is a marxist-leninist propaganda leaflet, along with Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and The Economist.

Berlusconi dixit.

quote:

Originally posted by JAPrufrock:
Yes.
La Stampa is a marxist-leninist propaganda leaflet, along with Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and The Economist.

Berlusconi dixit.

Are you sure he wasn't talking about 'Il Manifesto'? ;-)

That's about to change. Berlusconi's buddy, Riccio, has bought a 19% share (largest single holder) of RCS, which owns La Stampa, Corriere della Sera, etc.

quote:

This week the mutterings about Berlusconi turned to roars when it emerged that a number of businessmen close to him are also involved in Mr Ricucci's manoeuvres, including a financier, Ubaldo Livolsi, who sits on the board of Berlusconi's finance company, Fininvest, and rescued Mr Berlusconi from disaster during the 1990s.

FYI La Stampa is property of FIAT Group, not RCS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Stampa

An Agnelli family consortium owns a controlling share of LA Stampa (30%)- but it's not their property though (they don't own 100%). BTW an Agnelli family consortium also owns a chunk of RCS- it's not as simple as it looks. Example- Berlu's pal Ricucci, with the help of Fininvest (Berlu's company) can own a large chunk of RCS, whilst Berlu denies any involvement- it's all smoke and mirrors.

quote:

La Stampa is a marxist-leninist propaganda leaflet, along with Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and The Economist.

ah, i disagree (which, for those of you not familiar with this concept, means i am not claiming to have all superior knowledge on this subject). il corriere is right leaning and la repubblica is catching up...
also, i think Merriam-Webster may disagree with your calling these newspapers "leaflets", which is described as: "a usually folded printed sheet intended for free distribution"- last time i checked all the newspapers you mentioned cost $$.

I don't know Bill, I searched the web and all I found is that Itedi, a Holding owned by FIAT, owns Editrice La Stampa, which publishes La Stampa.
Here's an article from Milano Finanza which states explicitly that Itedi owns La Stampa.

http://www.milanofinanza.it/news/dettaglio_news.asp?id=...453&chkAgenzie=PMFNW

Anyway, we do agree that RCS does not own La Stampa don't we?

RE RCS group, you can find the ownership here:

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rcs_MediaGroup

RCS has substantial holdings in La Stampa stock- see http://ketupa.net/rcs1.htm . And through his surrogates, Berlusconi has an interest in RCS.

The minutiae aside, I was merely agreeing with the Italian commenter on the pro-Berlusconi article:
"...don't be surprised for what write italian newspapers most of them are servants of Mr. Berlusconi."

Thanks for tethering that one back to earth, Bill!

I agree. What has been surprising about these articles is they all seem to come from elsewhere: with rare exceptions, Italians don't appear to be commenting in the Italian press about their take on all the goings on--and given the gravity of a lot of it, you'd think they'd be hollering.

But it is sobering to think that Berlu's grip on the Italian media has pretty much silenced critics, and what you do read is unreliable.

It is a fact Berlu was elected--along with that blood-chilling Lega--but surely there's some opposition somewhere?

BTW, I started this thread with "handbags at dawn" to point out the silliness of Italians going after Matthew Parris for commenting on a slightly unpleasant event on the London Underground with arguments of how Italian government was superior to UK. Looking back, it's like Berlu sent his attack dogs out.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:
Carole, did you note that the "journalist" quoted was from La Stampa (owned by Berusconi)? The Italian commenter is spot-on.

This is the comment that triggered my response. Saying that Berusconi owns La Stampa is not correct. Punto.

Ok Grtngs. Own is too strong of a word, I agree. Let's just say, his crony owns 19% of RCS, which owns a sizeable stake in La Stampa. But you do understand that Berlusconi owns substantial chunks of Italian media, and possibly this influences their news coverage, no?

No kidding! Bill, that is painfully obvious... actually what bothers me the most is that Berlusconi not only owns papers and TVs, but also banks, insurance companies, Mondadori, and God knows what else. We all probably feed him money without even knowing it.

Exactly! I feel like I'm involuntarily contributing to him and his Lega Nord/Alleanza Nazionale bedfellows. And there's no stopping him because his cronies keep changing the laws before he's convicted. After his 5 years are up, he's a shoe-in for President of the Republic, where he could stay for another 10 years.

Berlusconi has used every trick in the book to hide his control over Italian media and to evade laws aimed at preventing control, thus his control has been estimated to be 80% plus now the three RAI channels. On top of that he has very aggresively gone after anyone who every opposes him even to the point of having criminal charges brought against some such as DiPietro through to use of false accusations by witneses probably paid to lie.