Kryzys modelu zarządzania RAI i jego polityczne uwarunkowania

Abstract

The crisis of the RAI’s governance model and its political circumstances

The political consequence of the RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) reform, made by Matteo Renzi’s outgoing government, was the legitimacy of the government and, consequently, the loss of credibility of the public broadcaster. The opposition, criticizing the law, saw in it a serious threat to media pluralism and constitutional guarantees freedom of expression. When the ruling coalitions controlled the RAI, the credibility of the broadcaster, raised by the opposition, was only a component of political rhetoric. According to her, the new media law was designed to subdue the RAI’s full control of the government and create the ground for future parliamentary elections. As a result, the RAI has been deprived of parliamentary scrutiny, so far held by a special parliamentary commission (Commisione Vigilanza RAI), whose influence has been significantly reduced. For many years the polemics of the Italian media system, the so-called duopoly, the dominant position of RAI and Mediaset, are of major importance in the political struggle in Italy.