With recent changes in its top management, Italy’s state broadcaster, RAI, has come back into the spotlight. As usual, discussions revolve around appointments and their political dependence. But how does the Italian state television work, and who is in charge of appointment procedures? This slide-show is a preview of the project "Media in Italy and the digital challenge", which quattrogatti.info has carried out with the support of the Open Society Foundation. The project is divided in three main episodes, focussing on information sources, digital terrestrial television and online journalism.

1. 21 June 2012
Media in Italy and the digital challenge
Italy’s state television RAI
and the need for reform
By Gianluca Martelliano
And Davide Morisi
With the support of

2. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
The Mapping Digital Media project
In early 2011 the Open Society Foundation (OSF)
launched the Mapping Digital Media project to examine
the global opportunities and risks created by the
transition from traditional to digital media.
Among the 60 countries in the study, the situation in
Italy was analysed in a detailed report published in
October 2011.
Thanks to funding from OSF quattrogatti.info has
developed a series of slide-shows and videos
highlighting key aspects of this report as well as new
data and analysis.
In this first presentation we concentrate on Italy’s state broadcaster
RAI and recent proposals for reform.
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3. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
New appointments, old procedures
As the mandate of the RAI board is coming to
an end, potential candidates are being thrown
into the arena.
For the first time Parliament prepares to
select the new Board with candidates selected
not only by political parties but also by civil
society.
It is therefore worth understanding how RAI
works, and, especially, why a reform of the
Italian public service broadcaster is urgent.
Photo by ginozar
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4. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
A limited company
RAI started regular television broadcasting in 1954
and is still the exclusive concessionaire of public
radio and television.
As established by its statute, Rai-Radiotelevisione
Italiana is a limited company, controlled:
• 99. 56% by the Ministry of Economy,
• 0.44% by SIAE (the Italian society of authors and
publishers).
The radio and television law (decree law. 177/2005) and the so-called
Gasparri Law (Law n. 112/2004) define its function and main roles,
including producing programmes «devoted to education, information,
training and cultural promotion».
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5. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Who pays?
Sources of RAI funding 2010
(Total revenue: 3012 million euros)
RAI is more than half financed by
television license fees which in 2010 Copyrights
accounted for more than 1.5 billion 3% Other
7%
euros.
While the fee (112 euros) is in the European
average, record numbers avoid
Licence
paying, with an average of 25/30% Advertising
fee
34%
compared to 10% throughout Europe2. 56%
As well as sustaining the public service
function the licence fee also helps RAI not
to exceed the 12% per hour
advertising limit in prime time (while Source: RAI’s 2010 Budget (“Bilancio Rai 2010”)
private TV reaches 18%).
2. Rai,official data, Bilancio 2010. According to a study by the Italian taxpayers’ association (2012)
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the percentage of those that do not pay the license fee is as high as 87% in some regions.

6. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Who is in charge?
Parliamentary committee Ministry of Economy
(“Commissione di Vigilanza”)
40 members among senators and MPs Appoints to members of
(the head is chosen from the ranks of the opposition) the Boards.
Appoints 7 members of the Board. Indicates the President of
Elects the President of the Board whose name is indicated by the Board
the Ministry of Economy
7 + 2
The Board
Guarantees public service broadcasting.
9 members (including the President) with a renewable mandate of 3 years.
Appoints the Director General, network and news directors
Director General
Network
Answers to the Board for company management and News
directors
In charge of programming
supervision. directors
for channels 3 year renewable term
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Sources: lo statuto della Rai, Testo Unico della radiotelevisione (d. lgs. 177/2005)

7. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Parceling out appointments
As the previous slide shows, RAI is almost
completely controlled by political parties
by means of the appointment of the members of
the Board by Parliament and Government.
In Italy this political control has ended up by
producing a system known as «lottizzazione».
This means the parceling out of the key posts on
the basis of party membership rather than skill
and experience.
This practice is «incompatible with the Council of Europe
guidelines to guarantee the indipendence of public servicve
broadcasters»3.
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3. See Open Society Foundation, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”, page 10

8. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Public but transparent TV
Privatisation of RAI has been repeatedly discussed as a drastic remedy for
party control. However, considering other broadcasters such as the BBC it is
clear that state ownership does not necessarily mean a lack of independence.
The difference between RAI and the BBC lies in the way the Board is selected.
In the case of the BBC, the process is:
• Open (anyone can apply);
• Public (the position is published online);
• Transparent (all the Board CVs can be consulted online).
Together with the management structure of the BBC these criteria contribute to
making public corporations accountable to citizens and to ensuring Board
members are competent and free of party interference.
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9. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
The BBC model: an example for PSBs?
Royal Charter, the «constitution» of the BBC
Guarantees independence, defines the functions of the BBC Trust and the Executive Board,
defines the public service mission: “to inform, educate, entertain”
Executive Board BBC Trust
Manages the BBC according to Defines strategies, approves the
strategies defined by the Trust budget, guarantees that the BBC is managed in
the interest of the public
11 members selected through
public calls: 12 members selected through an open selection
process (selected candidates are approved by the
• one Director General
Ministry, the Prime Minister and finally by the Queen)
• 5 internal executive directors
• 5 external non-executive Appoints the Director General and approves the
directors appointment of the 5 non-executive directors in
the Executive Board
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Fonti: BBC, BBC Trust

10. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
A reform that hasn’t happened (yet)
In order to reform RAI and free it from political interference a structural
change is necessary, following the latest reforms4.
In early 2012 Prime Minister 2012 described RAI as
«a striking example of a corporation that
needs reform». As interim Minister of Economy
he appointed the new RAI president, Anna Maria
Tarantola, and – stretching the rules – the Director
General, Carlo Gubitosi.
At present, however, there is still no clear vision
of when and how RAI will be reformed and the new
Clipart di Rejon
Board has not yet been appointed.
4. The main RAI reform still dates back to 1975 (Law 103/1975). This reform shifted control over public
broadcasting from government to parliament and confirmed the state monopoly. In 2004 the Gasparri
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law partially reintroduced the Government’s control in the appointment of two Board members.

11. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Reform proposals (1)
The Open Media Coalition has made strenuous
calls for changing the selection procedure for the
RAI Board. The coalition gathering associations
defending pluralism and freedom of information
asks parliament and the government to select the
new board through “an open, transparent and
rigorous selection process”5.
The Communication Regulator, Agcom, has also
tried to unsuccesfully promote reform to free RAI
from “endogenous political influence”6.
5. See Vogliamotrasparenza.it
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6. Agcom, 2005-2012, Presentation by the President Corrado Calabrò

12. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Reform proposals (2)
MoveOn Italia, a group inspired by the
progressive America organisation, proposes
a radical reform in five pillars 7:
1. Abolish the anomaly of the Ministry of Ecomomy as the majority
pubic service shareholder.
2. Create an Audiovisual Communications Council to replace the
current Parliamentary Committee to include members elected
from license fee payers, professionals, local institutions and
parliament.
3. The council would appoint RAI’s Board members by means of a
public selection process
4. The Council would appoint the members of Agcom
5. The Council would be accountable to license fee payers
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7. Moveonitalia.wordpress.com

13. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Reform proposals (3)
The Open Society Foundation is
also convinced the RAI needs
“profound reform” and suggests
four pillars8:
1. Introduce a new appointment procedure that will strengthen
the guarantees of competence and independence of the board
members and the director general.
2. Identify more clearly the public service obligations and start the
privatization of the purely commercial part of RAI.
3. Ensure that viewers are allowed to take effective part in
developing public service policies.
4. Guarantee sufficient resources for public service innovation
and the complete digitization of Italian television.
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8. See Open Society Foundation, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”, pag. 94

14. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Conclusions
As the neverending disputes over RAI’s reform have shown, changing the
Italian public service broadcaster risks becoming an impossible task.
In nearly 40 years of debate free radio, the Internet and digital TV have
taken over. The world has changed and RAI has changed very little.
The proposals mentioned before share three key concepts which would
be essential to change Italian public service broadcaster:
• Transparency
• Efficiency
• Meritocracy
Drawing on these basic, but key foundations RAI can be reformed into a
truly independent television, working exclusively in the interest of the
public.
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15. Italy’s state television RAI and the need for reform – 21 June 2012
Useful links
Open Society Foundation:
• Mapping Digital Media – Italy
(Report in English / Report in Italian, non-updated version)
Rai:
• Statuto Sociale
• Decalogo: il canone di abbonamento Rai
• Bilancio 2010
• Testo Unico della radiotelevisione (d. lgs. 177/2005)
• Legge Gasparri (Legge 3 maggio 2004, n.112)
• Vogliamotrasparenza.it
• MoveOn Italia
• Agcom, Relazione annuale 2011
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16. Thanks!
If you appreciated the presentation forward it to your friends
and support our project!
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We thank Iginio Gagliardone (Oxford University)
and Oreste Pollicino (Università Bocconi) for comemnts
To contact the authors : info@quattrogatti.info
To participate: partecipa@quattrogatti.info