Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

BACKGROUND:
Italy was one of the six founding members of the
EC in 1957 and maintains a significant position in the EU
to date. 1 With a population of 61 million people, Italy has
one of the largest populations and one of the largest
economies in the EU to date. 2
Italy has traditionally been supportive of European
integration and has been at the forefront of all major
EU initiatives promoting greater European integration,
including the EEC, the Schengen Agreement, and the
Eurozone. Italy has occasionally drawn criticism from
other fellow member states, for a possible contravention
of Maastricht Treaty in terms of high level of its debt.
Recently, Italians have begun to question their
country’s position in the Eurozone as slow growth and
lack of competitiveness characterized its economy. 3
Some have suggested that the economy’s sluggish
growth can be attributed to the Eurozone itself. This
slow growth culminated in a massive economic downturn
in 2008, which forced the centre-right coalition led
by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia
party out of power amid the soaring national debt crisis
in 2011. 4 The current Prime Minister former EU Competition
Commissioner and economist Mario Monti is heading
a caretaker government of technocrats, which aims
to restore stability to the Italian economy. 5 For the moment,
the Italian government remains committed to its
EU membership.
MEDIA SOURCES:
Italy's approach to its media has often made headlines at
home and abroad, “with concern regularly being expressed
over the concentration of media ownership in
the hands of one man - former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.”
6 The Italian press is highly regionalized, reflecting
the country's strongly regional history and character.
7 Most newspapers are privately owned, often linked
to a political party or run by a large media group. 8
102