Just back from the union of Italian journalists (FNSI) meeting in Bergamo on the outskirts of Milan where I joined Carlo de Benedetti, boss of the Espresso group, which includes La Republicca, and Fedele Confalonieri, Mediaset chairman and long-time Silvio Berlusconi confidante, on a panel to discuss the future of journalism.
These media titans have never appeared together before, and certainly not in the house of the journalists' union, but they may have a shared concern given the way Confalonieri laid into Sky Italia, Murdoch's sport and news network, a new player on the Italian media scene which is currently on a mission to break Mediaset's iron grip on the private broadcasting sector.
Journalism is in bad shape in Italy, not least because of the appalling gulf that divides the country's high-flying media stars and the growing underclass of freelance and poorly employed media staff many of whom are working for a pittance in precarious conditions.
Not surprisingly, then, calls for "more flexibility" from the two big hitters did not go down well, but they both showed enough concern for the fragile state of much of the country's media to support calls for more investment in training and quality journalism.
They also promised more dialogue with the industry workforce to address the crisis. This is good news and if it happens could provide some long overdue support for Italian journalism.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment