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Public Service Broadcasting and Political Conflict in Italy under Berlusconi

February 6, 2012 at 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM

Location:Senate Room, 608 Robertson Hall
Cost:Free

      Current Event Series

      Carleton University

The CES is pleased to welcome Dr. Massimo Scaglioni, Assistant Professor of Media History, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy.

The idea of public service broadcasting (“Servizio pubblico” ) is deeply rooted in the history of Italian television, since its birth in the 1950s. However, the concept has radically changed over the last 30 years, due to “deregulation,” the end of public monopoly and, in the recent years, digitization. Ever since media mogul Silvio Berlusconi stood as a candidate for the premiership for the first time in 1994, television has been a major arena for political conflict. The concept of “servizio pubblico” – its mission and  its independence from political power – became a hot topic of ideological disagreement. Dr. Scaglioni’s talk will analyze how this politicized environment has affected  Italian public service broadcasting and Italian TV in general. He will use as a vivid example the case of “serviziopubblico,” a highly popular program aired in 2011 and hosted by the major “televisual opponent” of Berlusconi, Michele Santoro.

Massimo Scaglioni, Ph.D., is, in addition to being Assistant Professor of Media History at the Catholic University in Milan, also the author of many books on media and broadcasting in Italy. He is Research Coordinator at the Research Centre for Television and Audiovisual Media at Università Cattolica, and a member of the editorial boards of  the Journal for European Television History and Culture and Comunicazioni Sociali.

The event is supported, in part, by a grant from the European Commission, for more information contact ces@carleton.ca or 613 520-2600, ext. 1087