CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
Peter (Basil) Kaminsky
Authority and press: a critical aspect Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Source: www.hyperbros.com
Abstract:
Journalistic analysis and evaluation of prominent journalist Indro Montanelli in Italy the current state of Italian society by the example of the next campaign - Silvio Berlusconi. We consider two opposite personalities outlook Italy: prominent journalist of the era - Indro Montanelli, and media tycoon and former Prime Minister - Silvio Berlusconi. The phenomenon of "montanellianstva" and "berluskonialism", their impact on the consciousness of society.
Peter (Basil) Kaminsky graduated National University of Lviv – 2011, as a journalist. Member of the Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Department Foreign Press and Information Department of Journalism at Lviv National University of Ivan Franko. Speciality: 27.00.04 - Theory and History of Journalism
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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
Allo specchio, cio猫 al bilancio della propria vita, prima o poi ci si arriva. E lo specchio non vi giudica dai successi che avrete ottenuto nella corsa al denaro, al potere, agli onori ma soltanto dalla 小ausa che avrete servito 1 INDRO MONTANELLI (小orriere della Sera, 31 dicembre 1997)
The theme of the research on the interaction between journalism and politics is vital, as a phenomenon that is not only colorful and rich in history, but also is an intensive development in the modern world, which is included in the process of globalization and influenced by information and communication technologies. As a result, the interaction between journalism and politics becomes more diverse, acquires new forms and gains many typical features. The result of this interaction affects various aspects of life in modern society, both on global and national scales, which increases the importance and the topicality of a comprehensive study of this process, showing its patterns and main trends of its development. The study of this issue in the context of the political process, emphasizing the interaction between the media institutions and the political system, the functional role of the media in the process of political communication, seems to be the most prolific. However, in those cases when the political system and its institutions are inclined to various influences and have been changing, and yet the media system is developed disproportionally and unstable, the processes indicating the complexity and contradictions of their interaction are observed. The example of Italy in terms of the interaction between journalism and politics reveals a number of patterns, both of private and public nature, and also trends of the development of this interaction on conditions of media and political opposition. One of the urgent issues around which others are grouped is journalism and government. The role of journalism in the struggle for political power (both legal and illegal, open and underground), its withholding or overthrowing manifests differently in different historical circumstances. It is especially important at the borders of historical landmarks. 1
In front of the mirror, that is, sooner or later we all will arrive to summing up personal life. And the mirror will not judge by the success that we achieved hunting for wealth, power, honour, but only by the reason we did it for.
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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
Another urgent question is how the press can stimulate or hinder the development of political events. This study requires consideration of many factors, including the fact that in Italy the political and journalistic elites are closely linked. The political and journalistic elites have specific forms of interaction, often determined by solely personal motives. The criticism of the government, as well as its support in press almost always have a concrete addressee. They are not abstract "President" or "Prime Minister", but concrete people: Palmiro Togliatti and Alchide De Gasperi, Romano Prodi and Silvio Berlusconi; they are not just political opponents but also contrasting personalities, the icons of behavior and communication. The attitude of politicians to journalism and journalists to authorities often is not parallel lines, but secants. And the nature of power and the position of journalism in society depend a lot on where and how they intersect. The last is known to be one of the most striking indicators of maturity and perfection of society. For many decades Italy underwent ideological and political reforms, which were introduced by historical reality. Empires, kingdoms, political regimes and medieval Catholicism (the papacy) wanted only one thing - so that people constantly feel fear. The psychological works of that time confirmed that the origion of any feeling is the feeling of fear, which is a powerful driving factor. The result of this reflective conventional response to fear from the threatening dominant element, was the creation of the paradoxical phenomenon which is called "berluskoniana" in Italian society. It thirstily accepted a person who destroyed the "phobia" of Italian society, however, encroached on the main fundamental, natural communication of people in space-time. The identification of features of the interaction between journalism and politics required a careful study of the question of political communication and culture in Italy. The study confirms that many factors, such as features of the media system, modification of the political system, participation of the Catholic Church in public life, activity of "economic power" and, to a large extent, political culture, influence the nature of the interaction between Italian journalism and political system. Italian political culture refers to an active type; namely, to a protest one, and its conflicting nature gives rise to various more or less stable subculture (Catholic and socialist, fascist and liberal), which, accordingly, modify the
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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
outlook of the Italian society. The result of interaction between journalism and politics and its impact on the media except the basic ones - journalism and propaganda - can be phenomena originated from them, such as political journalism (giornalismo politico), the party press, quasi party media (media quasi partito), for example, “Corriere della sera" and quasi media parties (party quasi media), for example “Forza Italia”, media polotics (mediapolitica) and spectacular politics (politica-spettacolo). Even the concept of "party of journalists» (partito dei giornalisti) appeared; they deal with groups of those journalists, who have claim on a special role in political life. In the sphere of television, the practice «lottizzazione» (channel division and leadership positions at RAI based on membership to a particular party) and «bipolarismo» telecasters (three state TV channels and three commercial TV channels, which were legalized in 1990) became specific and typical for Italy in the field of television. Moreover, all Italian press is often defined as «giornalismo schierato» (Italian shciera - crowd, gang), that is one to tend to political group. The study of "Berluskoniana" was found, it is an example of politicized science, which is identified by the lack of polemics and debates with opponents. Another sign of the time is the concepts of information, communication and digital society. Communications and their increase in society, the role of media in this process and their impact on the modification of the reality. Confrontation policy of the leading Italian journalists, in particular Indro Montanelli, who is thought to be the greatest journalist fighting against monopolian media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, has been analyzed in articles and reportages of this famous maestro of Italian publicism. The author has studied the works of Italian researchers and journalists on Indro Montanelli’s creative works during the reign of Silvio Berlusconi, as well as the resistance to manipulative influence of Berluskoni’s media group “Fininvest”. Namely works of M. Travaglio: “Montanelli e il Cavaliere. Storia di un grande e di un piccolo uomo”, “La scomparsa dei fatti”, Gennaro Cesaro: “Dossier Montanelli”, “Il Giornale 1974-1980”, “Il Novecento visto da Montanelli: l'eretico della destra italiana”, (Twentieth Century visa for Montanelli: an heretic of the Italian right wing), Marcello Staglieno: “Un certo Montanelli”, Tommaso Giglio “Montanelli l'eretico” (Heretic Montanelli) and others, as well as I. Montanelli’s dairy “I conti con me stesso” (Self punishment), Indro Montanelli’s selected works of thematic articles: “Ve lo avevo detto” (What I wanted to tell you), newspapers: “Il Giornale” and “Corriere della Sera” in which the famous publicist worked for many years. The theory of information society received
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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
a great response and found many followers of I.Montanelli’s ideological positions in Italy. But some opponents, such as J. Bekelloni who responded to it by the concept of "society of communication" or J.Hranieri who introduced the concept of "digital society", which in turn causes these dangerous phenomena warned by Montanelli, particularly, that the society becomes the consumer but not the object of debate. "I'm not going to praise Montanelli because of Berlusconi. It would be too easy, too easy now, when the pharaoh is dying and Indro lives in the eternal nimbus of Martyrs for press freedom. It would be even unfair. There are more complex affairs, – wrote Massimo Fini in the foreword to the by I.Montanelli: “Ve lo avevo detto” 2 - I remember at least once Montanelli being irritated,- Fini recalls – shortly before his death, he angrily called Berlusconi "a pots seller". One day the buyer having found out the brand of the manufacturer refused to urinate in them 3”. Indro was wrong, Italians want to have a carefree life, which Berlusconi “created” for them. "Berluskonism" is a critical diagnosis, a state of society. Only the generation that survived disasters and wars, the generation that knows what is the idealism of the twentieth century’s dictators, created with his own hands, idols of fascism, Nazism and communism can see this destructive disease of sociality. "The discovery that there is Berlusconi’s Italy really strikes me, and it's the worst Italy that I ever could see - affirmed Monatenlli. – I haven’t seen such an ugly Italy in my long life. Italy of the times of March on Rome 4, is both violent and cheered up by good hope. Italy of July 25, Italy of September 8, and even Italy of Loreto Square is enlivened by desire for revenge and retribution. But, I have never seen nor heard about the vulgarity and the meanness of this Italy. «Berlusconism» indeed is a sediment that jumped out of the pit 5". Montanelli pointed out a great threat of the actions of Berlusconi’s exposure manipulative influence that makes “drunk” ebbrezzato healthy perception of the reality of average Italian. Montanelli’s publicism is a national, social and cultural institution within the limits of social communications; a semantically, typologically, genealogically rich and complex phenomenon
2 3 4
What I wanted to tell you Indro Montanelli. Ve lo avevo detto. Prefazione di Massimo Fini. Rizzoli. 2011 RSC S.p.A., Milano.
A change of government by force in the Kingdom of Italy, in 1924 as a result, the National Fascist Party became the ruling party and Benito Mussolini obtained dictatorial powers.
5
Laurenzi L. L’Italia di Berlusconi, la peggiore mai vista // La Repubblica. – 2001. – 26 marzo.
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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
which is procedural and dynamic in nature. It operates with substantial materials (macrotexts), which outlines national axiosphere and invariant values of humanity; it stimulates a human creative process, forming person’s models of the world, becomes an individual psychological phenomenon, an heuristic and gnoseological factor, a driver of intellectualization of creative minds. «Parlano tutti, di tutto (Everybody says about everything), - Indro Montanelli wrote in the newspaper “Corriere della Sera” in which he analyzed the saturated information of the Italian media’s space, - ... the summer of chatterers. Maybe, it was more or less in this way every summer, but I can not remember it to be so talkative 6». The newspaper «The Wall Street Journal» calls Berlusconi "always well prepared political tactician 7”, - analyzing the current economic situation in the country Berlusconi said that "now the country is in absolute uncertainty and most voters do not support Monti’s government, the downfall of which will be definitely seen as a disaster by Brussels, and which could lead to strengthening of the EU policy on Italy. I would like just to recall that our party still has enough votes in Parliament to set aside Monti’s technical government. Berlusconi is welcome again!"- Cavalier added with a smile 8. Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of the Italian Democratic Party, after Homo Sapientus Berlusconi's speech quoted the Italian proverb: "There are no limits for the evil 9”. Human knowledge is imperfect, but it exists, so it is possible. The fact that knowledge of the human mind and the universe as a whole exists, is an empirical fact. It could be differently. One can imagine that foreseeing which is based on empirical and scientific grounds, is - without constants, invariants, without conformity with law and similarities, without symmetry and order - radically polarizes flows of humanity and it is not an element of the bifurcation, but rather is the opposition and poles of different origins. Indro Montanelli proclaiming to so called, pubblico indefinita and absorbing Homo Informaticus exclusively in the context of or Homo Pensatorius, calls Italian society for better understanding the threat of
6
…è l’estate delle chiacchiere. Forse tutte le estati un po’ lo sono, ma di una garrula come questa non avevamo ricordo – Sera - 4 agosto. - 1997.
7 8 9
I politici esternatori // Corriere della
Michael J. Casey. The Euro Zone Readies for the Bunga Bunga Dance. The Wall Street Journal, Updated December 12, 2012, 11:04 a.m. Berlusconi: non mi ricandido – "Lavorerò per unire i moderati Monti premier? Può andare", - la Repubblica, 09 ottobre 2012. Pd, la mobilitazione dei bersaniani/ La Repubblica, 09 ottobre 2012 pag. 14 sez. Politica interna
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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 6/2013 The Code Peter(Basil) Kaminsky, Authority and press: acritical aspect
their freedom and awareness of returning to primitive axiomatic traditions. In his opinion, Berlusconi’s media election campaign are viewed on various parameters: firstly, in the logics and the form of the way the question is put, and secondly, in the widest choise of means of communication that are run by Berlusconi family: television channel "Mediaset", weekly paper "Panorama" and leading newspapers «Corriere della sera», «Il Giornale», «Il Foglio» and others. There are neither neutral editions nor neutral television channels. Based on that, we can talk about the confrontation in opposition between Silvio Berlusconi’s "information machine" and Indro Montanelli’s world-view fundamental journalism. But, exactly these features highlight this genius journalist and personality of Montanelli, whose works are now read with delight, the works which are examined and analyzed, and scientific papers are written based on them.
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