Page 153 - Communication and Citizenship Journalism and the Public Sphere

142 COMMUNICATION AND CITIZENSHIP

the Cabinet and Secretary of the Socialist Party, Bettino Craxi, during
the television current affairs programme Mixer. In the interview the
President refused to accept the principle of the so-called ‘staffetta’
(relay) which had constituted, even though informally, the basis for the
agreement to the formation of his own government, and which provided
that the Socialists after having the presidency of the Cabinet for three
years would pass it to Christian Democrats. The interview set off a long
and bitter fight with the Christian Democrat leader Ciriaco De Mita,
who accused the Socialist Secretary of not respecting agreements, and
ended with the fall of the Craxi government and early elections. 10
Political communication also serves to publicize, specify and stress
the phases and state of progress of a negotiation. There exists, as also
occurs in the field of international relations, an informal ciphered code,
generated by the politicians and used by the journalists, which serves to
give an account of the phases of the negotiation and report them to those
concerned. Public institutionalization of this process serves to define
and redefine the party’s position in relation to its adversaries and allies,
to indicate what room is still open for manoeuvre and warn against rash
steps. Every political decision, from the initial formation of the
governing majority to important legislative proposals, is subject to
publicity in which those involved play their cards under the public eye.
A significant case is offered by the recent Convention of the Christian
Democrat Party in February 1989. The main problem that the
Convention had to face was the so-called double office held by Ciriaco
De Mita, who was both Secretary of the Party and Prime Minister of the
Italian government at the same time. Until a few months before the
Convention opened, Italian journalists were continually reporting
statements, summaries of meetings and interviews with political leaders
belonging to the different factions in the Christian Democrat Party,
sending out messages to each other and trying to arrive at the
Convention in agreement or at least in a position of strength on the main
question, the election of the new Secretary.
The fourth intermediating function of political communication is the
defining of alliances and of the contractual power of the individuals
participating in them. Many messages have the objective of seeking new
forms of collaboration and giving notice that new alliances or previous
ones are being formed or broken. The contractual power of those
involved is therefore changed as is their capacity to determine the final
result of the negotiation. Again the Christian Democrat Convention of
February 1989 provides an example taken from debates preceding it:
Giulio Andreotti, historical leader of a large faction of the Christian