Media in Italy

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Roberto Spiezio, citizen journalst from Italy, is interviewed about his entry into the world of jourmalism.

After my interview with Mr. Spiezio in South Korea, we corresponded by email and he was kind enough to offer more information about politics and media in his home country of Italy.

LP: Thank you in advance for your perspectives on life in Italy, Roberto. First, let me ask, how does Italy view immigration?

RS: This is a really sensitive issue and one of the usual battlefields for the political parties. The left wing has a policy of aperture about immigration, because of ideological matters and because immigrants are a good source of political consensus.

At the moment the government (left wing) has given many immigrants a resident status, as long as they have a regular job. In the past few years the right wing government had cracked down on immigration, by making the entrance and the staying in Italy a lot more difficult. As example, a Korean friend of mine came to visit me 2 years ago, and the army stopped her and told her if she didn't notify her presence -even as a tourist- within 7 days with the authorities, she could have been immediately expelled and banned from the country for 5 years - and she was just a tourist!

In Italy immigrants don't have the right to vote, even if they are permanent residents, whereas relatives of native Italians abroad, even if they are not Italian citizens, do have it.

This is one of the points the present government is going to address, along with the problem of the legal status of the 2nd and next generations of immigrants, citizens by birth or not.

Finally, the enterprise world in Italy is demanding more immigrants, because the economy needs it, and this affects the choices of the government in a decisive fashion often times.

LP: What is mobile phone use like in Italy?

RS: In Italy mobile phones are really widespread. Many Italians have more than one, and even elementary school kids tend to have it. Born as a status symbol, now it's more a common consumer device, like the TV or the radio. The most widespread technology is GSM, an European standard not compatible with Eastern Asian one (CDMA 2000) but UMTS (a standard introduced for multimedia streaming) is gaining consensus, since it allows people to make video calls and watch TV, while browsing the Internet at broadband speed, but the service doesn't cover the whole territory yet, we are far from reaching a 100% covering actually.

Recently Italy has been witnessing a springing up of services connected to the use of the mobile phones, especially silly subscriptions services (love compatibility and stuff) and it has been also introduced the TV service. Sky Italia is on the frontline in this new development.

The market seems to have reached its saturation since there are a number of mobile providers that have not changed for years now.

LP: What can you tell me about RAI?

RS: RAI TV is not exactly a private enterprise. As a state television, it has a character of public service, like PBS in America and it's divided into a number of companies that have a specific area of the industry to take care of, from advertising to new media.

Rai receives public funding, especially through subscription fees paid by the viewers. An anomaly is that this fee is conceived as a government tax on the possession of the TV set, so everyone is supposed to pay it, even if doesn't watch the channels. The management is appointed by a parliamentary commission, so there is a heavy political control as to how the company is run.

There are plans and petitions to exclude this pervasive political control over the service, and a real privatization is, as far as I know, not favorably welcomed by many, since the original character of public service would be "betrayed."

The overall quality of this network is good, apart from a questionable tendency to multiply quiz shows and "reality shows" like big brother and others, in that there are several competent journalists, and the offer is quite wide, even if some of the most interesting channels can be viewed only via satellite or in the new digital terrestrial platform. But in my opinion, just because of the political control over the management, a complete independence can't be assured. This is particularly evident in the news branch of the network.

LP: And how about SKY Italia?

RS: This is quite an interesting problem. Sky Italia is the only satellite provider in Italy, after the debacle of Telepiu and Stream. Its offer is wide and overall good quality in my opinion, even if too expensive for the average viewer. Nowadays SKY is under the spotlight because of the big soccer scandal ongoing, and the problem of the game transmission rights (collectively contracted or team by team). In Italy many don't see SKY as a positive reality, since it has a monopoly in its particular branch of the media.

LP: What about globalization or “delocalizzazione”?

RS: This is a relatively recent and controversial issue in Italy. It's recent because we "woke up" to comparing with other countries, and started facing the problem when other countries already were actuating their own solutions. It's controversial because the economy in Italy is not as good as before, the cost of living and for energy has risen dramatically over the past few years, and de-localization unavoidably brings job decreases and desperation in many people made redundant.

In my area there are the major eyewear companies in the world, producing glasses for the most important brands, including Ray-Ban and Prada. Some of them have started a delocalization project, and the main destination is China.

The pros of such a kind of phenomenon can be seen only for the enterprises in my opinion, in that they can reduce costs while gaining higher profit. I still have doubts about the quality of the products made in China, though. Cons regarding job descreases, and all the social problems related to that, including destroying entire communities that were totally built around a single factory in many cases.

LP: How do the quasi poveri connect and use the Internet, as well as get their news? Do they trust the large media companies? If not, then who?

RS: The Digital Divide in Italy is still a grave and serious problem. While we are supposed to be an "advanced country" there are still many towns and villages without broadband connection. Some organizations are trying to propose a project to adopt a policy for bringing the broadband virtually everywhere. The real matter is not the access to the internet by quasi poveri, but the access to the internet and its diffusion as well as the creation of an "internet culture" as a whole.

Some enterprises have introduced Wi-Fi in rural areas or villages not covered by the wired broadband connection.

The de facto monopolistic situation of Italian telephony, whereby one company owns all the infrastructure and forces the other providers to abide by the rules and the prices imposed by it, has created a really difficult situation: the prices for a flat internet connection are comparatively higher than in other European countries, and the quality is nearly always unsatisfactory.

The access to news is mostly traditional: TV, newspapers and then radio. People are divided about trusting mainstream media. As I perceive it, while the majority still relies on them, especially the well-established media, such as Corriere Della Sera and Republica, the most important newspapers in Italy, there are many people more and more dissatisfied with them, in search of something better. Proof is in the springing up of "counter information" and alternative information websites. Their quality is not always good, because there seems not to be any form of editorial control, and anyway they are regarded as niche realities that have nothing to do with the "serious" and "official" media.

My perception is that as long as a publication can pose itself as a credible and authoritative alternative to the mainstream media, it can break in and become a point of reference.

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Saying Goodbye to the Dead in Batibo

Batibo is a sub-administrative unit in the North West province of Cameroon. It is mostly a rural environment situated at the boundary between the Savannah and the equatorial rain forest. The majority of the people that currently reside in this area are the Moghamo-speaking people. History tells us that many other people residing elsewhere in the North West province migrated from this area, hence there are many cultural similarities between the Moghamo people and the rest of the province's people.

The Moghamo people tend to be very sociable and they profit from their strong social bond to overcome many challenges by organizing themselves in groups to tackle problems that would otherwise be insurmountable to a single individual. This togetherness plays a very big role when the community loses somebody.

The wailing of women usually announces the passing away of somebody. Typically when this happens, everybody in the immediate vicinity suspends whatever he/she is doing and moves to the compound of the bereaved. Within minutes, a crowd soon forms in the compound and volunteers start doing everything from comforting the bereaved to arranging the compound to receive more sympathizers. Women usually move in with their mats and mattresses to be sleeping in the compound for a week or two to console a wife, a sister or the mother of the diseased. Female sympathizers bring along food while males bring jugs of raffia palm wine known as 'fitchuk'. These items are added to what is prepared in the compound to entertain visitors beginning from the day the death is announced, through burial to the final death celebration. The program can last from a few days to two weeks depending on the status of the person and size of the family. In the past it could take up to a month or more.

Since majority of the people of Batibo are Christians, funeral rites usually commence from the church with songs, sermons and testimonials. After church service the crowd accompanies the coffin for burial (that takes place usually behind the house of the diseased). In the past, some family heads were usually buried in graves dug inside the living room. The firing of ten guns by men usually follows after burial. Loud-sounding guns are appreciated.

Reception is organized for everybody that attended the burial and the Batibo people have become very sophisticated at hosting large crowds and ensuring that everybody is properly fed. Priority is usually given to people that come from afar. They are usually served with something akin to a buffet. Singing and dancing follows the reception. Different people spontaneously tune songs to the crowd while those that are competent at the drums, and other instruments handle them. The songs’ melody and rhythm and the vibration from the drums send a beautiful artistic message that is difficult to describe. To know it, you need to feel it.

A second phase of the ceremony called 'death celebration' usually follows the burial ceremony. It could be organized immediately after burial or put off for another period (even years down the road) because it involves substantial organization and commitment of funds. Close family members of the diseased such as the children, the in-laws, the brothers and sisters all participate in the planning and execution of this phase. Each individual that is supposed to organize a celebration is allocated a day from a string of successive days chosen for the occasion. There are minimum financial requirements to be fulfilled by those involved. For example, you could be required to produce two big pigs, some palm oil, a bag or two of salt and other things. You may next be required to hire a traditional dance group and masquerades for the entertainment of mourners. The items you have supplied will be used to feed people but you may have to make additional provision in case there is a large turnout on your own day of the celebration. In all these arrangements, you will get material support from other people—a support that is usually proportional to your past participation in assisting others overcome similar problems.

The organization of the 'death celebration' is an obligation. If you were to die when you had a pending celebration to carry out, that responsibility will be transferred to your successor. A 'death celebration' is judged to be successful if the turn out of invitees is impressive and everybody present eats and drinks well.

People generally agree that the most positive aspect of the Batibo people’s way of handling the dead has to do with psychological healing of the bereaved. The permanent presence of many people for weeks around the bereaved tends to fill the vacuum created by the departure of the loved one. "I felt the real impact of my husband's departure only after all the mourners had dispersed", said a woman who recently lost her husband in an accident.

Njei Moses Timah is a pharmacist in his country of Cameroon and a citizen journalist writing for OhMyNews and other publications. I appreciate the time he took to write this article for Road|Productions and look forward to future collaboration with him. You can read more from Njei at http://www.njeitimah-outlook.com.

Suppression, I Accept Not

by Bhuwan Thapaliya

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I came
into this world
not like the river
but like the drop of water
and will evaporate soon

Though,
I am only
a drop of water
in the majestic ocean
of nature

I yearn
to create
a vigorous ripple
of freedom,
in the eternity of the water

For, I am the man,
of eternal freedom
and suppression
I accept not
I will accept not

The living God
within me, urges
me to be free, and
march on the road
of freedom sans any dread

My heart
like Einstein
thinks in another dimension
unknown and unknowable
even to my mind

And like Goethe
looks at things
in a different manner
different than those thinkers
bestowed with pristine minds

Freedom
the gift of God
is the inherent right
of every individual
in this compressed world

I will fight
till the end
to free the masses
from the grip of suppression
and ignite the lamp of freedom

I will free the masses
or die in the attempt
but I will never
live to see
the naked dance of repression

I am not afraid
of those suppressors
nor I am afraid of the death
that they are planning for me
they can kill me but not freedom forever

My blood boils,
Whenever, I see the strong ones
pulverizing the lean,
and my heart cries,
whenever I see the starving pauper
in the abattoir of the prosperous butcher

For me
a red rose is a red rose
it is not white
just because they call it white
to disguise the ignorant folks

They can
conquer the Everest
but not my spirit
they can stagnate the river
but not my impetus

They can
take my
sight away
but not
my vision of freedom

They can
cut my
tongue into pieces
but not
my voice of freedom

They can
stab me, with the
dagger of despotism
but not impede
the blood of freedom

I know
the road to freedom
is blocked with obstacles
but obstacles causes no despair
if they are encountered with hope

We must act now
and merely
not just look on,
when our freedom
is threatened from within

Because,
it is better
to perish without freedom
than to have a yearn for freedom
but not the valor to harvest it

Don’t be a coward.

Be prepared to receive
bullets on your chest
because, in the struggle
of freedom, tolerance
of suppression is offense

Stand up, stand up

Gather your courage
Come out in the field
let’s march hand in hand together
Right beneath the nose of the suppressors
for the emancipation of our freedom

Let us not forget that.

The ocean is composed of drops
of water, and all drops possess
equal potentials, but only, when
they mix with other drops
they form a powerful bond

So…

Listen, my oppressed brothers
listen, my trodden sisters
listen, listen
to the natural desire
of your ceaseless soul

do not fear
trust your soul
and march ahead
with a resolute heart
for the better tomorrow

And scatter
the seeds of freedom,
where does it go?
it does not matter
scatter it more with hope

Welcome the freedom
welcome it today
and enjoy it evermore
but do not use your freedom
to suppress the peoples soul
to suppress the peoples soul

Read more about the conditions in Nepal and the inspiration for this poem.

Transitions in Nepal

The past several years have been a time of turmoil and sweeping change in the mountainous kingdom of Nepal. Never in Nepal’s history have the Nepalese people suffered than in these last few years from all fronts – autocratic King, Maoist rebels, corrupt leaders, lackluster political parties, ever soaring unemployment and inflation. Things have changed in Nepal recently but the barrage shows no sing of letting up and the future of Nepal is asuncertain as it was then.

Something is still lacking in Nepal, and that missing factor is the political consensus amongst the Seven Political Parties and the Maoists. Sadly, this has given the non-democratic forces an arena to regain their recently lost glories, slowly but steadily. But in the midst of this all, let us pray for the lasting peace and stability in Nepal as ordinary Nepalese are finding it difficult to live in the nation trodden by the brutalities of the suppression and violence.

Now, let me come back to the point and share with you all, the circumstances that motivated me to write the poem, “Suppression, I accept not.”

Wherever I went, I was sensing suppression, whatever I read, I was sensing suppression, whoever I met, I was feeling suppression. King Gyanendra was busy bamboozling the people, and the anti-democratic forces were making
a mockery of the democracy by indulging in non-democratic political activities. Violence, killing, torture, and suppression were going on in all the 75 districts of Nepal, mostly from two forces – the soldiers of King Gyanendra and the militias of the Maoists. Trapped in between were the common people and the democratic political parties of Nepal. And I was very restless given the fact that we were losing our basic human rights and freedoms.

It has often occurred to me that a poet after witnessing suppression in all socio-economic frontiers of Nepal has no right to be silent. I knew then that I wouldn’t be able to change the condition of Nepal via my poetry but yet I realized that it was much better than doing nothing. I know the wonderful efficacy of poetry, and the voice it gives to the voiceless, and the hope it gives to the hopeless.

Experience had taught me that poetry is a part of the spiritual disciple of a votary of truth; so on Friday, January 2nd, 2004, I woke up from my slumber and spilled my heart out in a piece of paper as for me democracy is the best form of government, and no matter how hard they preach against democracy, they wont be able to drift me from the democratic path.

I sat on my verandah, and stated spilling my heart out in my fight against the suppression. Here is the poem which I wrote two years ago, during the zenith of suppression in Nepal under the direct royal regime but unfortunately this poem of mine is as relevant in contemporary Nepal as it was then because the Maoists are not abiding by code of conduct and are continuing forceful extortions.

Notwithstanding the commitment of the party leadership not to collect forceful donations and break the ceasefire code of conduct signed by the government and the Maoists, Maoist rebels are collecting donations forcefully from various business houses and people, though the Maoist leadership have been refuting this claim.

But the reality is very different. The Maoist cadres have been threatening business houses and people to give donations and also warning of dire consequences if they failed to comply with their orders. The Maoists have also been continuing the acts of abduction and torturing people, but the party leadership has remained tight lipped in such issues.

Considering this status quo, Nepal it seems is out of the frying pan (Royal regime) into the fire (The Maoists). And my fight is yet on in Nepal to establish true democracy and freedom in Nepal because Suppression, I accept not and will accept not, no matter what happens to me in my pursuit to the lasting peace and stability in Nepal because I have already dedicated this life of mine to their freedom – on whose freedom my existence and the existence of this great nation, “Nepal”, depends.

guest author Bhuwan Thapaliya of Kathmandu, Nepal