🚀 go-pugleaf

This is just the conspiracy theorist in me thinking out loud about the
recent BBS raids in Italy. Pay no attention. :->

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
From: nyt@blythe.org (NY Transfer News)
Subject: Fascism & the Media in Italy
Date: Mon, 9 May 1994 19:25:21 GMT

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

[An interesting piece, badly translated. We don't have time to
clean it up, but are distributing this because it includes
important information on intelligence-fascist links and fascist
use and control of broadcast media.  -- NY Transfer]

Date: Thu, 5 May 94 11:12:05 SET
From: W04BOJ31@ICINECA.CINECA.IT

Fascism and the Media in Italy:

               THE ITALIAN POLITIC AND MAMMI'S LAW

The MAMMI'S LAW: after the result of the Italian political
elections, it appears to be still more urgent to create an open
field to the fight against the broadcasting and television
regulation imposed in 1990 by the group of power constituted by
Craxi, Andreotti, Forlani on Berlusconi's account.

Who is Silvio Berlusconi?

Berlusconi inaugurates his career as a building business man in
Milano in the sixties.  Although, he has poor means, his career
is bewildering thanks to political supports and bank credits. but
it's in the seventies-eighties, that his wealth will constitute
the basis of an economical empire: while Italy is being shaken by
the democratic and leftwing shove which brings 30% of the consent
to the communist party, allows a few important civil conquests
(abortion, divorce) assists to the growing of a strong and
aggressive revolutionary leftwing (to the point that in Europe, it
is talked about the "Italian case", the "weak link of the NATO
chain"), in the meantime, a few blocks of power linked to the
business world, to the magistrature, to the Army and police
forces, to rightwing political exponents and to the Masonery, are
giving life to a secret plan, which grows around the Masonic Lodge
P2, called "the plan for the democratic rebirth". Such a plan is
predicting, as soon as by 1976, the authoritarian reorganization
of the social and political life in Italy: presidential democracy,
reform of the electoral system (Italy is the only case in Europe
which electoral system is strictly proprtional), collaborative and
no more conflictual trade unions. Such a plan, despite inquiries
from the magistrates, slowly grows and spreads, and today's Italy
sees it completely fullfilled. In the meantime, Silvio Berlusconi,
as various inquiries prove it, thanks to the important political
supports in different sectors, goes on growing and prospering
thanks to amazing credit facilities, which would have never been
granted to any other Italian businessman. His link with the
socialist party (which by the end of the seventies makes a
reactionary swing in favour of capitalismo with Craxi's
leadership), polluted by the P2 facts, allows him to accomplish
the great leap: from a building businessman he becomes the owner
of at least 3 national televisions, breaking thus the TV state
monopoly,. During the eighties, Berlusconi is becoming more and
more prosperous thanks to his political alliance with the
Christian Democracy and the Socialist Party.

Because of this political frame, we now descrive the 1990 Mammi's
law , the only law in Europe which recognizes to a single
economical subject the radio-television monopoly, with at least 3
national channels, 3 pay-televisions, a radio-network, a
wide-diffused daily newspapers, half the monopoly of the
Pubblicity market, the strangling of the other radios.  Always in
the eighties, berlusconi buys the Milan Footbal Club, another
great source of popolarity for his "Transmitting Excellency".

When by 1991, the "tangentopoli" blows up, that is the wide
inquiry carried out by the magistrates on the corruption of the
Italian political system, the Christian Democracy and the
Socialist Party start falling into pieces under the indignation of
the public opinion. At this point, the new plan goes off. In 1993,
the separatist and populist party LEGA NORD (Northern League)
achievies an evident electoral success in Northern Italy, while
the neofascists from the Movimento Sociale Italiano - MSI -
(Italian Social Movement) are assesting themselves in the south.
In front of the prospect of an electoral victory from the "united
leftwings", the only present and homogeneous group in the national
territory, as well as anti monopolist and supporters of a new
anti-trus law, Berlusconi, whose television and commercial empire
is exposed for a debt of at least 4.500 billions of lire (probably
still more) with the bank (which in Italy are under the controll
of public authorities), enter the lists.

In january 1994, FORZA ITALIA (COME ON ITALY!) is being launched
with all the characteristics suitable for any commercial
operation. FORZA ITALIA, the party of the Moderate rightwing's
orphans, is based on a Reagan-like government program: war to the
public assistance, reduction of taxes for the rich... etc, up to
the fantastic promiss of a milion working-places in a country torn
down by unemployment and industrial restructuration, which has
emptied whole zones of the country. It is now that the power of
the mass-media is being verified: Berlusconi's three channels are
working perfectly well as powerful instruments for the creation of
the public opinion, not only and not so much because of the
factions conveyance of political information, rather than because
of the cultural, social, consuming reference-system that is being
created everyday: the optimism of the market, the cure for all
evils, the prospect of an existence based on the stereotypes of
the consumation, on the absolute values of the business know-how,
the secessionist selfishness of Northern Italy, rich and
industrialized are all the factors constituting tha basis for the
victory of 27th of March; a trust based on Forza Italia,
neofascists together with the North League win the elections in a
clamorous way. On the 15th of April, during the process for
Conspiracy against the Republic, all the accused of the masonic
Lodge P2 are being discharged of the principal crime. On the 16th
of April, Irene Pivetti from the North League, an integralist
catholic with pre-council positions and near to cardinal
Lefebvre's ones, is being elected at the Chamber of Deputies. 44
years after the liberation from nazi-fascism, we assist to the
formation of a government led by Berlusconi together with fascist
ministers and ministers from North League. On the 17th of april,
Jack Lang, ex-minister of the Culture of the French socialist
government, invites all the governments and the European Community
to refuse themselves to have contact with the fascist ministers of
the Italian Republic.

In the meantime, between february and march, the withdravel of the
concessions to the radios to broadcast has been carried on and
almost ultimated. After the cancellation of 800 televisions, it's
the turn of 2000 radios to be denied the right to broadcast.

The Mammi's law is aiming at "rationalizing" the broadcasting
frequencies considered "overpopulated": this has meant the
imposition of extremely high caution money for most small radios,
precarious living-conditions, redefinition of a sector in favour
of a few wide concentrations, besides the only ones capable of
overcoming the business and enterprise rules dictated by the law.
All these conditions are being imposed by a State law, in the most
anticonstitutional way.

The aim is that of promoting medium-large groups upon which the
whole publicity market is being diverted, trampling thus on the
individual and associative right for free expression and free
broadcasting.

 This is further confirmed by the fact, that under the pressure of
the Catholic Church, a reservated number has been left aside in
favour of communitarian radios, that is to say radios with social,
religious, ethnical characteristics. To radios of the kind, the
right to exist has been recognized but still with very limited
possibilities of using pubblicity and sponsor to finance
themselves.

Besides, the assignment of the frequencies has been a real
obstacle-race: complex technical and bureaucratic documentations
to supply in very short terms, the imposition a minimum number of
3 regular employees in each radio, the payment of a heavy annual
licence-fee plus a caution-money amounted to 300 milions of lire,
useless sayng that it has prevented many radios to enetr the
lists. Obviously, for all the small radios spared by the "national
lottery of the Concessions" (like our radio), life is all the same
quite hard: the communitarian radios have to dedicate 20% of their
programmation to the local information (this threshold would be
unreachable for the RAI iteself!). Moreover, the general
conditions of the law - as reported above - make survival quite
arduous. The same law for the Press, which was initially providing
tariff dacilities for the radios as well, is still suspended,
after years of failed application for many.

On the 15th of march, a demonstration has been organized in Roma
by the CONNA XXX, and the AIRA network, a group based on the
informal and horizontal circulation of informations and
confrontations between a few antagonist radios from Central and
Northern Italy.We are reporting underneath part of the platform
presented by the CONNA, with which we substantially agree:

"- Rediscussion of the conditions in which each radio had to
provide the necessary documentation requested by the law, as the
terms of notice have revealed themselves to be too short and
insufficient;

- Cancellation if the imposition on both a minimum number of
employees in each radio, and on licence fees and cautions
absolutely unjustifiable;

- Adjustment of the periods of time dedicated to information
according to the real possibility of gathering local news,
considering that they are difficult to find especially in small
centers;

- Possibility for the radios to have a free interconnection
between them to co-produce common programms and news-bullettins;

- Possibility to activate new radios belongin to linguistic
minorities or organized groups aiming at any kind of sportiv,
social, cultural promotions."

We don't canceal the discomfort which overcomes us at the thought
that there must be a regulation and taxation on an activity which
has no cost at all for the collectivity. Hence, the only
regulation we would expect would be that of prohibiting wide
monopolistic concentrations, but it seems that the tendency is
quite different nowadays....

Never as presently, the possibility of life for independent radios
has been so central and vital in order to guarantee the plurality
and freedom of information.

***************************************************************************
RADIO K CENTRALE 107.05 Mhz
Self managing Radio for Bologna and Province
***************************************************************************

What is -Radio K Central?

It's a project of communication born in Bologna (Italy) in summer
1992 from a great number of persons who recognize themseleves in
the italian new left , and more precisely in the autonomous
movement. Together with RKC, other 7 sister-radios are currently
covering the national territory - Radio sherwood (Padova); Radio
Onda D'urto (Milano e Brescia); Radio Onda Rossa (Roma); Radio
Blackout (Torino) - . All these radios are constituting the AIRA
(Agency of Information of Antagonist Networks) tigether with the
world wise telematic network ECN (European Counter Network).

Moreover, the radios are directly linked with teh squatted social
centers, self-organized work committees, libraries and
documentation centers, as well as being present and the active in
situations of social fight inside the urban and human evirnment.
Its obvious to assert that RKC is a keypoint in the network,
network of varoius realities, which keep their own autonomy of
movement, but which are all looking forward to conitnuous
interaction, information exchanges, and to the promotion of direct
actions for the satisfaction of peoples real nedds.  RKC, as well
as the other sister radios are growing with the necessity of
coming out from cultural impositions and mass-media logics. Self-
management is the keyword, the tool which gives life to the
project and allows to remain completely independent and out of
sharing-out logics of Culture and politics of the economical,
political and cultural potentates.

The financing of the radio is based on the programmation of varous
concerts, initiatives, on listeners subscriptions and on comrades
who are working everyday in the studio. Self- management is thus
becoming a political and cultural pattern to re-propose, a way to
underline the power contradictions and clashes which are
dominating the urban structure of our territories.

                              -30-

For  more information:

Andress: Radio K Centrale
         Via Azzogardino, 23 - Bologna - Italy
Tel./Fax.: 0039 - 51 - 551740
E-Mail: w04boj31@icineca.cineca.it



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Art McGee [amcgee@netcom.com]
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