One of the strange parts of Italian television news — at least for those who come from Britain — is that the directors of the principal television news broadcasts often do direct-to-camera editorials.

To me, the idea of an editorial seems to be an abandonment of the classical doctrine of impartiality, as espoused by most other European public broadcasters. Buteven if you accept the idea of such editorials, you might think that there are better or worse editorials, editorials which walk the line between partisanship and analysis, and those which step far past it.

Yesterday’s editorial by the director of TG1, Augusto Minzolini, falls into the latter category. The video is below; my (very quick) transcription and translation follow.

Dico senza spirito polemico, ma la manifestazione di oggi per la libertà di stampa per me è incomprensibile. Manifestare è sempre leggitima e salutare per la democrazia, ma in un paese dove negli utlimi tre mesi sono finiti nella tritacarne mediatico Berlusconi, la figure dell’avvocato Agnelli, l’ingegnere De Benedetti, l’ex-direttore dell’Avvenire, tane ti altri, denunciare che la libertà di stampa è in pericolo è un assurdo.

Il rischio è un altro, l’informazione è diventato il teatro di un scontro di potere. la manifestaizone di oggi e un episodio di questo scontro, perche fotografa una disparità: è stata convocata contro la decisione del premier di querelare Repubblica e l’Unità. Si contestano due sole querele e non quelle che colpiscono altri giornali, magari di diverso orientament. Negli ultimi dieci anni ci sono stati in media quattro cento trenta querele di politici contro giornali, il sessantotto percento presentati da esponenti di centrosinistra.

Mi chiedo: è possibile che la libertà di stampa sia stata messa in pericolo solo dalle querele di Berlusconi?

Vediamo che succede all’estero. Nel 2004 Tony Blair, dopo un lungo braccio di ferro che arrivò quasi in tribunale, constrinse la dimisione dei vertici della BBC, che lo accusava di falsificiare il dossier sull aguera in iraq.

Non si puo pensare che i giornali abbiano sempre ragione. La difesa corporativa non fa bene all’autorevolezza della media, specie in Italia, dove si ha una strana concezione del pluralismo dell’informazione: ci sono giornali che si considerano depositari della verità, che giudicano gli altri che la pensano in modo diverso come nemici o servi. Chi ha questa concezione manifesta contro un ipotetico regime politico, per insediare un inaccettabile regime mediatico.

I say this without wishing to start an argument, but today’s demonstration in favour of freedom of the press seems, to me, absurd. It’s always legitimate and healthy for democracy to have demonstrations of this sort, but in a country where, in the last few months, figures such as Berlusconi, l’avvocato Agnelli, de Benedetti, the former editor of Avvenire, have finished in the media meat-grinder — to maintain that the freedom of the press is in danger is absurd.

The risk is quite different. Information has become the scene of a struggle for power. Today’s demonstration is an episode in that scene, because it offers a snapshot of a disparity. The demonstration was called in protest at the decision of the prime minister to bring a case against Repubblica and Unità. Those two cases and only those cases are being protested against, and not those cases which hurt other newspapers, perhaps newspapers with a different viewpoint. In the last ten years, there have been on average four hundred and thirty defamation cases brought by politicians against newspapers, 68% of which have been brought by politicians of the centre-left.

I ask myself: is it possible that freedom of the press has been put in danger purely through the libel actions of Berlusconi?

Let’s see what happens abroad. In 2004, after a long struggle which almost ended up in court, Tony Blair forced the management of the BBC, which accused him of falsifying claims in the dossier on war in Iraq, to resign.

We can’t think that newspapers are always right. A corporatist defence like this doesn’t help the reliability of the media, especially in Italy, where we have a strange idea of media pluralism. There are newspapers who consider themselves notaries of the truth, and consider those who view things differently as enemies or servants of power. Those who have this view are battling against a hypothetical political regime only to install an unacceptable media regime.

There are a number of things which are problematic with this editorial.

First, it’s inaccurate. The Blair-BBC row did end up in court (a quasi-judicial court, granted, but a court nonetheless). Blair didn’t fire the BBC management; theyresigned after Lord Hutton had found their information to be incorrect. Difficult to imagine a Rai board resigning for similar reasons.

Second, it has faulty logic. One of the arguments is that if yesterday’s protesters  didn’t protest against otherlibel cases, they can’t protest against this one. That argument obviously depends on some kind of minor premise like “in order to protest any action of type X, one must protest against all actions of type X” (or at least those of equal gravity, and, by the way, Berlusconi’s actions are no worse than the rest). That minor premise is clearly bullshit.

Third, it’s misleading. Why bring in the fact that most libel cases have been brought by centre-left politicians unless you’re willing to come right out and say that this is a disguised left-right clash — something that Minzolini only ever insinuates (giornali magari di orientamento diverso)? Why even mention the number of libel claims, since that only makes it more credible to maintain that the freedom of press is in danger, something you contest?

I think it’s entirely reasonable to suggest that libel actions brought by the sitting prime minister (and Italy’s richest man) against the two newspapers which have been the most hostile to him are libel actions of quite different nature to libel actions brought say, by the chair of a parliamentary commission.

It’s been hard for me teaching people about Italian media, because it’s very hard to show TG1 not showing news about Berlusconi’s relationships with escorts. But this editorial certainly demonstrates an overlap of viewpoints between the governing coalition and TG1.