Concerning the space be given to political forces, greatest differences emerge between the public service news (RAI) and other private television news. Newsroom member of TgLa7 explains: “We do not have the problem that RAI has of the balance, we are not subject to the constant control of the supervisory commission, we do not have problems to weigh daily the space given to political sources”. The only formal rules followed by private television stations are those established during the election campaign period. “There are no routines, nor internal rules. The only rules are those of Agcom in times of par condicio”, declares the newsroom member of SkyTg24. The situation is different for public television. Tg1, for instance, is obliged by service contract to allocate air-time proportionally to all the forces in Parliament. “Let’s pay attention to the right proportion that reflects the composition of the parliamentary groups. We also pay attention to the smaller parties, giving them the so-called right to stand. There is no routine, there is attention”, said the newsroom member. The editor-in-chief underlines that we are talking of a system that is also controlled through external bodies: “If you derail from the straight line you try to rebalance; we have a system of important pressure with the Osservatorio di Pavia that provides us with the parameters to evaluate the coverage of politics by the public service”.
As far as the selection of external guests is concerned, according to a SkyTg24 newsroom member, these are “selected on the basis of their newsworthiness and how influential they are”. This practice is confirmed by an TgLa7 editor: “They are selected on the basis of their competence and relevance to the theme”. Often, however, the experts involved are journalists, in which case it becomes important to which political area they belong. As stated by newsroom member of TgLa7:
There is a somewhat pathological aspect that does not concern us so much, but what happens in the world of information: the journalists pro quota. Maybe the politician does not send them, who in some cases, however, prefers some or recommends some journalists as interviewers, but they are selected because they are right or left. It is a television logic that also produces ratings.
A similar position to the editor of Tg1:
In the particular case of politics, in choosing newspaper editors or columnists, sometimes we are guided by their belonging to a certain political area, for a question of having all the perspectives. There are no written routines, but there is commitment to plurality of voices. External opinions mostly arise from the direction, it is the direction that gives input to listen to external opinions.
