Videocracy

How can one explain the devolution of the politics and media culture of Italy in the age of its current prime minister and media emperor Silvio Berlusconi? As the owner of Mediaset, he controls the majority of the country’s private television stations, and other media outlets such as, for example, Medusa, the country’s largest motion picture producer. As Italy’s political leader, he maintains considerable control of the state-run RAI channels, affording him an unprecedented hybrid of executive power and private interest to control the airwaves — and to numb the minds of the populace and unapologetically shape public opinion to his financial and political benefit.