Italy’s many talk show hosts and TV anchormen are in despair following a decision by RAI to ban political talk shows until after the regional elections at the end of March. This is because Italy has an equal media access rule for all legal political parties, guaranteeing them equal air time. In the past, some shows have not respected the time rule.
Last week, RAI chiefs received a directive from their legal office giving them the choice of: suspending shows with political content during the run-up to the elections and replacing them by party political broadcasts on a rotation basis; screening the shows but structuring them like party political broadcasts, making sure that all entitled parties are represented for exactly the same amount of time; or screening the shows, “provided no politicians are involved or, if they are, that they do not talk about political matters.”
RAI, presumably scratching its collective head over how they could broadcast a political show with no politics, yesterday opted to suspend the shows. The ban will now be extended to Italy’s privately owned TV channels.
Do you agree with RAI’s decision?
