Prime Minister Berlusconi Owns 92% Of Italian Media!

Things are so bad, members of Berlusconi's own party felt compelled to vote in secret, after previously voting publicly on a bill in Berlusconi's favor, to put voice to their opposition to his quest to control Italian media and politics. I'm not sure the NY Times could have hid the story in a better spot, but I at least credit them for printing the story. Berlusconi, who "owns the country's largest private television network and indirectly controls...public broadcasting channels", was angered by the action.

This seems very odd, even by today's standards. 17 members of Berlusconi's party come back in a secret vote to gut the legislation they publicly supported? Kafkaesque, and signalling troubling times in Italy.

Back here in America, we need to take a stand now against concentrated media ownership. The Senate debating it right now. What's next? Rupert Murdoch for president?

Check out the Center For Digital Democracy, We Want The Airwaves, Journalism.org, The Media Access Project, Reclaim The Media!, The ACME Coalition, and Media Channel for the latest media information, arguments and ownership figures.