THE IMPACT OF THE REFORM OF THE ITALIAN PUBLIC BROADCASTER RAI ON THE OUTCOME OF THE 2018 PARLIAMENTARY CAMPAIGN
THE IMPACT OF THE REFORM OF THE ITALIAN PUBLIC BROADCASTER RAI ON THE OUTCOME OF THE 2018 PARLIAMENTARY CAMPAIGN

Summary/Abstract: The public broadcaster RAI (Radiotelevisione italiana), in its parliamentary campaign in 2018, was to be the guarantor of the electoral success of the Italian centre-left. However, this was not the case. The Democratic Party (Partito Democratico) lost the elections. The decision of the then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to strengthen political control over the RAI before the upcoming elections was wrong. The model of government television criticised by the opposition proved to be dysfunctional. The restriction of the autonomy and the consequent reduction in the credibility of the public broadcaster RAI gave the Italian opposition an argument to change its electoral strategy and to transfer the campaign to the network, which determined its final outcome. In the 2018 parliamentary campaign in Italy, RAI stopped serving as a forum for public debate, thus ending the stage of its domination as a medium in the process of political communication during the Second Republic.

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