The Department of Information and Publishing of the Presidency of the Council (Italian Prime Minister’s Office) supports, through direct contributions, the editorial activity of newspapers and periodicals in accordance with the principle of pluralism of information, with particular attention to local publishing and to the digitisation of the publishing market. Until 2017, the same department also gave direct contributions for publications by political parties, political movements, and trade unions. This possibility was lifted by the legislative decree 70/2017.
Politics remains the main external factor influencing the quality of the journalistic product: a widespread figure at European level, but a peculiar characteristic in the Italian case (Hallin & Mancini, 2004; Mediaact, 2014). This factor is relevant especially for RAI and Tg1, which, being public service providers, have a direct connection with politics:
This company since it was born has a peculiar characteristic, it responds to politics, there is a parliamentary commission that gives us an orientation that must be translated into an editorial plan. The director is chosen on the basis of his or her ability to interpret that editorial plan.
In some cases, the influence of politics also occurs more directly through pressure on in-house companies: “It happened that politics tried – the previous government did so explicitly – to tell the participants not to give advertisement to our newspapers”, the editor-in-chief of la Repubblica states.
The National Contract for journalistic work mentions the separation of functions between publishing companies and advertising agents, stating that “advertising messages must be clearly identifiable as such and therefore distinct, also through a specific indication, from journalistic texts” (FIEG & FNSI, 2014: art. 44). “The advertising agency is internal, but I don’t know what they look like”, explains a TgLa7 newsroom member. No relationship with the advertising dealership”, confirms SkyTg24 editor-in-chief. There are also forms of branded content that link the work of the editorial staff and advertising agency. According to the editor-in-chief of la Repubblica:
In the digital world, branded content is becoming strata for which in a transparent way there are specials that are sponsored. That is, journalistic content that we produce in total independence, but the container is sponsored. We declare it to the reader.
Hence, special attention is given to reporting the presence of advertising content to readers, a principle also regulated by law (FIEG & FNSI, 2014: art. 44).
The jurisprudence on the mixing and merging of advertising and information goes back to 1986 and has evolved over the years in an attempt to regulate forms of “editorial advertising” (legislative decree 74; see Republic of Italy, 1992) and to contrast those of “hidden advertising” (law 223; see Republic of Italy, 1990). However, despite the obligation to properly report advertisements, legal references remain wide and the boundaries between information and advertising often tend to blur. This is evident in recent cases when complaints have been raised within the editorial offices themselves. For instance, on 5 November 2019, Corriere della Sera hosted a dedicated article on the new calendar realised by For Men Magazine. Since this magazine belongs to the Cairo group that also owns Corriere della Sera, it was a sign of proprietary interference in editorial work. The editorial board of the outlet sent an open letter to the editor Lucio Fontana:
This morning many colleagues have reported their discomfort in reading the sidebar article on page 23 on the calendar of For Men. We understand the need of our editor to publicise the initiative of one of his monthly magazines, but the choice to dedicate an article on the pages of the Italian chronicles with two photos, quotes, names, and details on the sponsors who have paid, seemed out of place to many, and unfortunately not only inside the newsroom.
The relationship between heavy advertising and media coverage emerged as particularly evident in the work of Gambaro and Puglisi (2010). The two researchers implemented a survey, carried out on six different Italian newspapers and thirteen Italian companies in the period from 2006 to 2007. The research showed that the number of articles dedicated to various companies was related to the number of ads purchased in a given newspaper by a given company. According to the authors, an increase in advertising investment of EUR 50,000 per month led to an increase of at least 13 articles dedicated to the investing company per month.
