Page 127 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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The Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model

have the lottizzazione in management of the different channels. Other
kinds of current affairs programs, on the other hand, typically have clear
political orientations and offer journalists the opportunity to engage
in active commentary of a sort that is usually not possible on news
broadcasts. 7
The collapse of the Italian party system in the early 1990s – all of the
old parties were destroyed following financial scandals and the end of the
Cold War – has changed this system to a degree. The governing board of
RAInowhasonlyfivemembers,whichmeansthatitcannotbeappointed
by strict proportional representation. It includes three representatives of
the majority and two of the opposition and in a sense reflectsamore
majoritarian logic (Marletti and Roncarolo 2000). Personnel are still
appointed to a significant extent according to the lottizzazione, though
thereisnotasclearadivisionasbeforeamongthechannels.Topdirectors
also still tend to be intimately involved in politics. The director of TG1 at
the time this book was written was close to the majority (he had been a
journalist,thenbecameadeputyforBerlusconi’sForzaItaliabeforebeing
named director) and the director of TG3 was close to the opposition.
InalloftheMediterraneancountriespoliticallogictendstoplayalarge
role in broadcasting, particularly – though not exclusively – in publicly
owned media, and of course particularly in news and public affairs pro-
gramming. This is perhaps most clearly illustrated by the fact that the
newsagendaisnotconsideredtobegovernedpurelybyjournalisticjudg-
ments of “newsworthiness,” but is a question of political policy. France
and Italy both have formal systems for monitoring representation of po-
litical parties in broadcasting (Caruso 2000). In the French case the “rule
of three thirds” has been in force since 1969, specifying that one-third
of the time given to political representatives to speak should go to the
government, one-third to the parliamentary majority, and one-third to
the opposition (and during election campaigns, equally divided between
the candidates). When the rule was renewed in 2000, a provision was
added that small parties not represented in Parliament should also get
some air time, though the exact criteria have not yet been developed.
This rule applies to all television broadcasters, public and commercial,
and the CSA monitors compliance each month.

7 In Spain a lottizzazione was proposed (using the Italian word) by the UCD, the gov-
erning party in the early 1980s, but rejected by the opposition PSOE (Fern´ andez
and Santana 2000: 101) – which no doubt knew that it would soon be in the
majority and would be better off rejecting power sharing according to the Italian
model.

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