He will remain a historical figure of Italy. Silvio Berlusconi, nicknamed “Il Cavaliere”, died Monday of leukemia at the age of 86. He was still active in the political world, elected senator on September 26, nine years after being stripped of his previous mandate.
For thirty years, he has marked the media and political history of the country by revolutionizing in particular the way of addressing the people. “He brought television into parliament and politics into the television media”, summarizes with 20 minutes Matteo Treleani, lecturer in information and communication sciences at the University Côte d’Azur.
From media empire to political domination
When he entered politics in 1994, when he “stepped onto the field”, as we say in football, “Silvio Berlusconi was already known to everyone through his media empire”, explains Matteo Treleani. He then owns three television channels which openly support him as well as the Mondadori editions. But above all, it dominates the Italian television world which it forged in the 1980s and which influenced the mores of Italian general culture. A culture based “on wealth, sexism”, recalls Matteo Treleani.
Taking advantage of a wasteland of ruins after legal scandals that affected the entire political class, Silvio Berlusconi became leader of his “Forza Italia” party, then was elected Prime Minister. “That he comes to power, it was really a precursor, intentionally or not”, analyzes the lecturer again. With him “the political arena moved to television”, he explains. In addition, thanks to all his channels, he “dictated the political agenda” by always being present on television, abounds Matteo Treleani.
A political renewal towards the collapse of the debate
Silvio Berlusconi was the initiator of what is now called the politics of the spectacle. Paolo Levi, Italian journalist corresponding in France goes further by considering that he is “the inventor of telepopulism. “With simplistic language, shocking, vulgar sentences, accessible to everyone, “he invented the tweet before Twitter, illustrates Paolo Levi. He gave the “the” to a form of political communication that has become commonplace and widespread. Italian politics then shifted from debates on substantive issues to “the politics of appearances.” Silvio Berlusconi spoke to the stomach rather to the head”, still slices the Italian journalist.
With this very innovative language, we have witnessed a collapse of the political debate. “We have entered an era of absolute simplism with a people side, and this phenomenon has spread to many other countries, judge Paolo Levi. There is a before and an after Berlusconi. We remember the Sarkozy style in France, the vocabulary of Donald Trump or even that of Jair Bolsonaro. “We will remember from him his somewhat comic dimension, his jokes, his blunders, his populist counter speech, which will surely hide a much less funny dimension, namely his setbacks with the law”, predicts Matteo Treleani again.
An “opportunistic entrepreneur”
Silvio Berlusconi will also be remembered for having participated in demonizing the Italian far right, in particular by pacting with them and allowing them to enter the government. The current Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, took her first political responsibilities in the government of Silvio Berlusconi. “If it came to power today, it is thanks to Silvio Berlusconi, he opened the door to this political force which was unpresentable”, recalls Paolo Levi.
Although you couldn’t call him a progressive, he wasn’t on the extreme right. For Matteo Treleani, he was “an opportunistic entrepreneur who sought money and power. “The entrepreneurial culture was at the heart of his political approach, he had declared that he wanted to govern Italy as he managed his empire, which reassured everyone,” recalls Matteo Treleani. Even today, his contempt for the political elites who have come out of specialized studies, without having passed through civil society, are victims of a disdain from the Italian right. “Something remained”, sums up Matteo Treleani.
A historical trace in Italian politics
“There are still a lot of remnants of this media culture today, even if it is fading with digital”, according to Matteo Treleani. Indeed “his great flaw is that he never understood either digital or pay TV like Sky and Netflix”, missing a crucial revolution, judge Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffè, professor of strategy at Bocconi University of Milan interviewed by AFP.
It will nevertheless leave a very powerful mark. He has become “a historical figure”, say Matteo Treleani and Paolo Levi. For Giorgia Meloni, he is indeed “one of the most influential men in the history of Italy. “It is a trace that will remain in general Italian culture, this television media culture and this complicated mix between media and politics”, analyzes Matteo Treleani.