Italian Salaries Among the Lowest in OCED

A new study shows that Italian salaries are among the lowest in the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Based on data from 2009, Italian salaries ranked 23^rd of 31 for salaries and 16.5 percent below the OECD average.

Last year, the average annual Italian salary was calculated around $22,027 compared to the OCED average of $26,395, the euro area average of $28,454 and the European Union Average of $25,253. These averages are based on a single-person household and on purchasing power, although Italy also ranked 23^rd for salaries in a four-person household (including a mother, father and two children).

Italian salaries are the lowest in the Group of Seven (G7) including the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France and Canada. The salaries in Italy are also lower than the countries currently facing financial turmoil, like Greece, Spain and Ireland, although they were higher than Portugal, Czech Republic, Turkey, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Mexico. I am honestly very confused about this report because Italy has such a high number of immigrants so I am wondering what effect this has on immigration.

Italian Bailout Plan

One of the major stories that has broken in Italy is Greece’s horrible debt and the plan by the European Union to help. I believe it is important to talk about the effects of the debt because it directly effects the market in all the other EU countries. The debt in Greece has caused the euro to go down significantly, from about 1.60 euro to 1.25 euro per dollar.

Friday, May 7, the Italian cabinet approved a decree to give a significant bailout load to Greece. Their initial contribution will be a little over 5.5 billion euros and another 14.8 billion euros over the next three years. This decree, which takes immediate effect, must be approved by parliament within the next 60 days.

In a statement made by Premier Silvio Berlusconi he made it very clear that “the aim of the Italian government is to work to reach a solution which is common and shared, capable of placing Europe in the best position possible to deal with the crisis”.

Italy is third in contributing to the joint 110-billion-euro bailout package for Greece, falling behind Germany (22.4 billion euros) and France (16.8 billion euros).

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti stated that Italys contribution will not weigh on the bugit, instead explaining that the loan will increase public debt. Tremonti also stated that “it is our hope that they will agree that it is not enough to respond to this crisis. We need to look forward, learn our lessons and adopt all those measures necessary to ensure things like this one never happens again,” because the financial and economic imbalances threaten “the stability not only of that country but of the whole euro area”.

Video on how some believe Italy is the biggest threat to the Euro.

I think when talking about Italian politics it is extremely important to discuss the Lega Nord (North League), which is a political party in Italy consisted of regional parties from Central and Northern Italy. It is a political party that I heard about everyday while living in Italy and honestly I find it frightening.

Its political program calls for the transformation of Italy into a federal state, especially the Northern regions which they call Padina. Basically it advocates the separation of Northern and Southern Italy, which has recently sparked controversy and racism between the two sections of Italy. The leagues culture is a mix of pride in the heritage of northern Italy, distrust of southern Italians and Roman authorities, support for free market economics and independentism, hate for Italy (especially its flag) and claims of Celtic heritage.

They consider themselves a populist party, and the party’s constitution states that the party will end political activity when federalism is obtained. The party is anti-monopolist, anti-immigration, anti elitist and participative. It is one of the few Italian political parties where they do not permit free-masons to join. They “fight against the big powers” and promotes small-ownership, small and medium sized industries and small government against governmental bureaucracy, governments money waste and corruption.

The league itself, to me sounds racist although they have dismissed the claims and say they are nonviolent. However, there have been many speeches and interviews that say otherwise. They also hold strong ties to major players in Italian politics, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

This is a link to one of the anti-immigration protests from Lega Nord.

Here is a link to one of the uses of propaganda. In english the flyer states "They don't want to make rules on immigration, we are now living on the reserve. THINK! The Lega Nord has confronted with great courage this difficult battle. Continue to support and trust us!"

Cell Phones and Internet Usage in Italy

While I was living in Italy, I noticed that the internet was not as popular as it is in other countries. Many of my Italian friends are just now making e-mail accounts and using online services for products. In America we use the internet for EVERYTHING, from shopping to travel to banking. I remember one time I even tried to buy my boyfriend an airline ticket online but they didn’t trust the internet, so they went to a travel agency instead.

There are many reasons for the slow development of e-commerce in Italy, the main reason being the Italian distributive structure which is made up of many small, specialized shops instead of larger corporate companies. Other reasons include: a lack of PCs in the home, fear of web-based interactions, and the fact that Italians historically like to do business face-to-face.

Another technological difference that I saw first hand was that credit card usage in Italy is pretty much non-existent. They conduct business solely in cash, a concept that was relatively new to a Southern California girl who is used to using a debit card for all my transactions.

Telephones usage in Italy is also changing rapidly. Due to high costs per call, many Italians have multiple phones (ie. a phone to call, a phone to text and a smart phone to play games, take pictures, and surf the internet).

I think that Italy is starting to expand their technology, and even the government is on board with this. The government buys computers with tax payers money for high school students in order to encourage the expansion of the internet.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties in Modern Day Italy

This is just a little more information of Italian rights, civil liberties and government organization in modern day Italy which I found on Freedomhouse.org.

The Italian government is an electoral democracy, where the president is elected for a seven-year term by Parliament and other representatives of Italy’s regions. Although elected the president’s role is usually ceremonial however sometimes politically influential. The president is also able to choose the prime minister, who is often the leader of the largest party in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. The upper house is the Senate and both chamber members serve five-year terms. The president today is Giorgio Napolitano, a former member of the Communist party who was elected in 2006.

Although Italy has changed its government 50 times since 1945, corruption in politics remains a major issue in Italian government today. On the 2008 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Italy came in at number 55 of 180 countries surveyed.

Current Prime Minister Berlusconi has faced many corruptions charges over the years, including ties to the mafia, however he has never been convicted. He has completely avoided trials and is now immune from prosecution due to the bill that passed which gives members of the government immunity from prosecution, needless to say, the bill was a diruption to the justice system that directly benefited Berlusconi.

In Italy freedom of speech and press is constitutionally guaranteed, however with Berlusconi’s return to parliament and 90 percent control over Italy’s broadcast media, you can see how the media could be influenced. The internet in Italy is mostly unrestricted, however the government does block foreign websites if they violate national laws, and they monitor websites in an effort to catch child pornographers.

Freedom of religion is also guaranteed by the constitution, although Roman Catholicism is the dominant faith, and the state grants privileges to the Catholic Church.

Other freedoms Italian citizens have include, academic freedom, freedom to assemble and form social and political associations. One area in which Italy differs majorly from the united states is the judicial system which has long trial days and influence of organized crime.

FREEDOM HOUSE INFORMATION

In order to find out more about Italy’s political righs and civil liberties I went online and looked at Freedomhouse.org, an independent watchdog organization that supports the expansion of freedom around the world. The following is Italy’s freedom ratings from 2009:

Political Rights Score: 1

Civil Liberties Score: 2

Status: FREE

In the past year Italy’s civil liberties rating has declined from 1 to 2 because of the concentration of media outlets under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and interference by organized crime networks in the functioning of private businesses. In April 2008, Parliamentary elections were held three years ahead of schedule because of the collapse of the center-left coalition government led by Prime Minister Romano Prodi, which was then taken over by the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his center-right coalition. Berlusconi’s return to premiership has since raised concerns about press freedom because it left him in control of both state media and his own private media empire.

I have already spoken previously about Berlusconi’s involvement with the media and how dangerous it is for him to have so much control over it. Freedom house mentions Berlusconi’s many platforms on which he ran, including pledges to crack down on crime and illegal immigration (including measures on fingerprinting Romanian residents, including children…hmmm sound familiar?), which threaten Italy’s civil rights and warns of a “climate of discrimination.”

Although Berlusconi continues to be attacked over corruption allegations, July 2008 parliament passed a law that gives the prime minister and other elected officials immunity from prosecution while they are in office.

Top 10 Daily Italian Newspapers

According to the most recent statistics, there are slightly over 10 million Italian periodicals appearing in Italy, however only a very small percentage of these are daily newspapers which provide general daily news coverage while the rest of them deal with subjects like sports, arts, labor unions and professional areas.

These are the top 10 newspapers in Italy today and their daily circulation:

1. Corriere della Sera 718,000

2. La Repubblica 648,000

3. La Gazzetta dello Sport 458,000

4. Il Sole 24 Ore 410,000

5. La Stampa 399,000

6. Il Messaggero 292,000

7. Corriere dello Sport 285,000

8. Il Giornale 235,000

9. Il Resto del Carfino 188,000

10. La Nazione 155,000

In addition to the daily newspapers dealing with general news information, there are 482 weekly, 384 biweekly, and 2148 monthly magazines. The widest circulated weeklies dealing with general news coverage are Panorama and L'Espresso who are owned by Mediaset-Berlusconi Group and the La Republica group and reflect the current political trends of press coverage.

Basic Data of the Italian Republic

Just some quick numbers and facts on Italy and its use of media outlets

Official Country Name: Italian Republic

Region: Europe

Population: 57,679,825

Languages: Italian, German, French, Slovene

Literacy Rate: 98%

Area: 301,230 sq km

GDP: $1,073,960 usd

Number of Daily Newspapers: 88

Total Circulation: 6,024,000

Circulation per 1,000: 121

Total Newspaper Ad Receipts: 1,828,000 in Euro

As % of All Ad Expenditures: 23.20

Number of Television Stations: 358

Number of Television Sets: 30,300,000

Television Sets per 1,000: 525.3

Number of Cable Subscribers: 57,700

Number of Cable Subscribers per 1,000: 1.0

Number of Satellite Subscribers: 2,350,000

Number of Satellite Subscribers per 1,000: 40.7

Number of Radio Stations: 4,709

Number of Radio Receivers: 50,500,000

Radio Receivers per 1,000: 875.5

Number of Individuals with Computers: 10,300,000

Computers per 1,000: 178.6

Number of Individuals with Internet Access: 13,200,000

Internet Access per 1,000: 228.8

Background of Italian Media

The Italian Media system began the 21st century with the reliance of the traditional printed press and participation in the global shift to other systems of information outsourcing including online journalism, the spread of personal computers, and digital television. Despite increasing reliance on technology, the term "press" is still closely related to daily newspapers.

Italian newspapers have five distinguishing characteristics that set themselves apart from other western European countries; historically low levels of readership, a predominance of regional over national papers, notable lack of independence of the press, virtual nonexistence of a popular press and the existence of a group of daily "news" papers that are solely devoted to sports, religion, or other specialized topics. When discussing the background of the Italian media, I believe it is extremely important to discuss in detail these five characteristics.

The first characteristic of Italian media is most often stressed by analysts of the Italian press. Compared with the other European Union members, Italy's daily newspaper circulation ranks just above Greece and Portugal, the two least advanced Mediterranean countries. In Italy, the daily newspaper circulation in italy is about 109 per thousand citizens. In the late twentieth century readership began to grow because of the commercialization of the press however the numbers seem to be falling again.

There are many causes for low-readership in Italy, including problems matching the reader to the newspaper. In Italy newspapers are solely distributed via newsstands and the prices are very high, since the prices are determined by a joint committee of government and business. Another problem is the fact that until the 1950's, Italy's population outside of the major urban cities (like Milan and Rome) illiteracy was still extremely high in the rural areas and four fifths of the population spoke only local dialect and were not able to speak true italian. Today true spoken Italian is still in the process of being the language that every Italian is comfortable speaking. Many times journalists in Italy are not interested in trying to translate or explain unfamiliar words to the public. Since the 1950's, radio, TV and most recently the internet have been the media of choice, thus creating a decrease in newspaper circulation.

The second characteristic is the predominance of regional over national newspapers since Italy has yet to establish a truly national paper; however there are some political party-affiliated daily newspapers that are filling the void to some extent. Even though some regional newspapers are being widely circulated (such as Milan, Turin, Bologna and Venice), they tend to convey a regional bias which is linked to the agendas of the families and businesses that own the paper. One example of this would be La Stampa, who is owned by the Agnelli family, who is the major stockholders of the Fiat Company.

The third characteristic of the Italian press is its lack of independence, which sort of goes along with what I was talking about with ownership. Ownership of major newspapers by rich families, industrial groups and other financial power centers is typical, often publishing more than one newspaper. One example of a nonindustrial financial center is the Catholic Church which supports publication of L'Osservatore Romano, a widely circulated daily paper of the Vatican. It is also very common to see daily newspapers being published by political parties who use the news to circulate information to their members. Even though Italian readership is low, it is extremely politically savvy, which results in high party memberships and voting turnouts.

Italian journalism has traditionally specialized in interpretation, intricate commentary and complex analysis rather than direct news reporting and detailed descriptions of events. Italian journalists are experts at investigative in-depth reporting and there is an underlying sense of irony in the fact that the journalists are highly skilled and educated but are faced with a public that doesn't read daily newspapers in significant numbers.

The last two characteristics, non existence of popular press and presence of single non-news newspapers, are somewhat overlapping. In Italy, instead of producing tabloids (which is common in other European Union countries), Italian publishers are focused on newspapers with specialized topics that tie into the passions of the Italian public, most commonly with soccer. La Gazetta dello Sport and Il Corriere dello Sport-Stadio, two popular sports publications, will grow in circulation into the hundreds of thousands on days following a big soccer match.

I would also like to point out that while I was living in Italy, I noticed that most of the news was watched on TV at night time around the dinner table. If the newspaper was read at all it was usually the newspaper specific to the region that you were in and dealt with all the things going on in that particular area. Also, it was very common for men to gather around in groups to read the bright pink La Gazetta dello Sport, a bright pink publication, while the women would usually read horoscopes.

Berlusconi Attacker Goes to Trial

In December of 2009, the Italian Premier, Silvio Berlusconi, was attacked by a man who hurled a statuette of the Milan Duomo, striking the 73-year-old Premier in the face and leaving him with a broken nose and bloodied mouth. The attack came at a time when Berlusconi was embroiled in a sex scandal, divorce with his wife, and many protests demanding his resignation.

Berlusconi at the time was held at a hospital over night and the man accused of attacking Berlusconi was immediately taken into custody. However, it seems that 42-year-old attacker, Massimo Tartaglia, has asked to go before a single judge to expedite his trial before his scheduled May 7, 2010 hearing. Under Italian law this type of fast track proceeding will allow the judge to reduce the sentencing by up to a third.

Tartaglia's lawyers will likely argue that he was not of sound mind when he attacked Berlusconi. He is currently being held at a mental health facility and is facing a jail sentence of up to seven years if convicted.

While I was in Italy, the attack on Silvio Berlusconi was such a huge story, especially since he is in charge of all the nations media. Many people speculated that the whole attack was planned in order to gain public sympathy in the wake of his newest scandals.

Immigration Issues Hit Home

Another issue that is actually very important to me has to do with immigration. I never fully understood how hard it was to try to live and work in a country without a visa, until I was forced to leave Italy due to an expired visa. This coming just days after Silvio Berlusconi basically said that Italy will no longer accept immigrants. Many times while watching the news I saw boat loads of Moroccans, Africans and Romanians being deported back to where they came from, hoping to build a better life for themselves and their families.

However, in the past year, new laws being enforced in Italy are making it much harder for immigrants to stay, including marriage laws and extending visas. The newest law however comes as a surprise to many: immigrants who have school age children born in Italy are no longer allowed to stay and will be deported, regardless of the impact on the children.

The Supreme Court said thursday that foreigners with out permission to live in Italy mus be expelled from the country even if they have young children at school and from whom they will be separated. Italy's highest appeals tribunal, the Court of Cassation, overturned its own previous rulings that "indicated the welfare of the children was paramount in these cases" regarding immigration.

The Supreme Court most recently rejected an appeal by and Albanian national, whose wife is ready to give birth to their third child and currently awaiting citizenship in Italy, stating that the mans situation was not sufficiently exceptional to prevent his expulsion under the Italian law.

The court also said that they can only overlook illegal residency for a limited period of time and only "when there are serious concerns linked to psychological and physical development of a minor arising from an emerging situation."

This ruling also overturned two previous rulings by the same court, the most recent ruling made in January. In both cases the Judge ruled that a child's welfare takes precedence over a parents immigration status.

Changing Times

This week our topic is to write about our country and how we see their culture changing due to globalization or what our book calls "Americanization." Italy is known as a Catholic country, especially since one of the most influential and important religious institutions, Il Vaticano (the Vatican), is located in the heart of Rome. Traditionally religion has always played a major role in the lives and politics in italy, since most Italians have been raised as Roman Catholics.

While I was living in Italy last year, I noticed that they had an extraordinary amount of religious festivals and holidays, such as La Epifania, Pasquetta, and La Festa Della Madonna Bianca (pictured above). They also had many other religious holidays to celebrate different Saints, especially the Saints that they believe watch over different regions and especially their tiny towns.

Le Grazie, the small fishing village where I lived for part of last year, worshiped the Madonna. They had a picture of the Madonna at the entrance of their village where you would find the elderly towns people leaving flowers or saying the prayer. But this is why I believe that the culture in Italy is changing. Never once did I see a young Italian, male or female, who worshiped the Madonna, despite being raised as devoted Catholics. While talking with many of my Italian friends, I learned that the Italian youth is no longer as interested or devoted to the church.

I think this culture change began taking place within the past 20 years, due to the advancement in technologies and the interest in Pop Culture. I think the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 also played a major role in the end of traditional Catholic ideals.

Boycott of Elections

I don't think that it is any surprise, despite major denial, that there is in fact organized crime going on in Italy, especially in the south and that they have strong ties to major politicians including allegations against current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. However, Southern Italian citizens are trying to get local politicians to step up and challenge the uprooting of organized crime or they will boycott the upcoming local elections in Campania and 12 other regions of southern Italy. According to Bishop Antonio Ribaldi Italians "need to start being braver about burning the bridges that connect us with those people, who often try to pass themselves off as devoted Catholics." Bishop Ribaldi also adds that the hearts and minds of Italian youth are being waged in the classroom, which has recently suffered due to major budget cuts. "Its up to the state and public schools to debunk the myth that organized crime robs from the rich and gives to the poor," states Ribaldi, "Thats the message the mafia sends and if the social services in place aren't capable of providing an alternative than southern Italy has no future."

On a personal note, while I was in Italy I spent the majority of my mornings reading the newspaper to understand the politics and issues facing Italy, and I can honestly say that the Italian citizens are terrified of the Mafia and regularly keep tabs on where the Mafia is known to be.

My New Package

Okay so this blog doesn't really have anything to do with what is in the news in Italy, but I had told a very good friend of mine that we were doing these blogs for our class. She happens to be from Italy and got very excited when I started asking her questions about Italian media. Anyway, today I received a very exciting package from her filled with pretty much every newspaper that they have. I am going to start raiding this treasure trove in front of me...wish me luck!!! BUON LAVORO CLASSE!!!!!

Festivale di Sanremo

One of the articles that I have read in "Il Nazionale," one of Italy's major news publications, is all about il Festivale di Sanremo or in English, the Festival of Sanremo. This is a major music festival in Italy that has been hosted at the Ariston Theatre, in the city of Sanremo, since 1951. The festival has launched the careers of some of the most influential Italian singers including, Andrea Bocelli, Giorgia, Laura Pausini and one of my all time favorites Elisa.

Last year I was fortunate to be in Italy during the Sanremo song festival and I got to see how important it is to Italian culture. I remember sitting down at the dinner table with my boyfriend and his family and watching the festival on TV while we ate dinner. They had many famous Italian singers and song writers who would perform in front of huge crowds as well as young, undiscovered artists who were attempting to break into stardom.

This year the festival starts Feb. 16 and will last for almost 3 weeks. I will continue to add links for everyone once the concert starts and update you on the performers and winners of the contests.