Till the eurozone crisis forced his ouster, Silvio Berlusconi was Italy?s longest serving PM since Mussolini. In negating comparisons with that fascist dictator (and comparisons of Mussolini with Saddam Hussein), Berlusconi was quoted as saying, ?Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini used to send people on vacation in internal exile.? He faced off the ensuing outcry with an arrogant, ?Stop with these exploitations.? When the judiciary pursued charges of money-laundering and tax fraud, complicity in murder and mafia activity, paying for sex with a minor etc, Berlusconi not only crafted immunity laws to protect himself but also put it out that the cancer truly eating through Italy was the politicisation of the magistracy: ?Those judges are doubly mad! In the first place, because they are politically mad, and in the second place because they are mad anyway.? His homophobic and sexist claims are legion, from describing the Obamas as suntanned to selling Italy?s investment potential because it boasted beautiful secretaries. How did he get away with all this, to the extent of proclaiming himself the Jesus Christ of politics in a country where around 90% of the population is Catholic? There are cultural explanations. And then there is the fact that in a country where around 70% of the public gets its news from TV, Berlusconi owns the largest private TV networks. After you add on his possession of popular tabloids and a broadsheet, plus the PM?s influence over the state broadcasters, it?s no surprise that in-depth investigations into his shenanigans have rarely reached a mass audience. What do you expect when a country is being run by its richest man who also happens to be its largest media owner? Imagine the NOTW investigation if Rupert Murdoch were the British PM, and the poor man isn?t nearly as powerful there as Berlusconi is in Italy.
As long as his media empire remains strong, so does the possibility of Berlusconi?s return to power. But Mediaset has been taking a hit alongside its founder?dropping around half its share value through 2011. And maybe you will laugh on knowing who has been nipping at Mediaset?s heels: Murdoch?s Sky Italia.
