The Martyr Effect
The newspaper La Stampa of November 11th published the customary short satiric commentary signed by Jena. It speculated that possibly Silvio Berlusconi’s expulsion from Parliament will turn good for him: “E se invece gli avessero fatto un favore?”.
(Some would say unfortunately) This can be true, at least on a communications level. His playing inside or outside of the Italian political system in fact doesn’t make such a major difference. Firstly because we shall not forget that he can still count on a countless bouquet of terrestrial digital free TV channels to deliver his political messages to a vast audience and keep exerting his power on the local “res pubblica”. Secondly because though Berlusconi is now banned from any Public Office, it is not possible to restrain him from appearing on the News. And we also shall not underestimate the fact that, since commercial broadcast has become a reality in Italy too, news and talk shows are largely a show case for politicians’ and celebrities’ statements much more than the place for a debate.
A possible – not only probable – consequence of this is the opportunity for Berlusconi to perform the new character of the martyr, finally defeated by the “politically-driven” magistracy at the end of a life long persecution. The foundation stone to build up a series of targeted messages aiming to restore that part of his popularity recently lost due to a blurred political behaviour.
On the other side some analysts say the tide has unquestionably turned and the politician has reached his unavoidable end. No matter the expulsion and the resulting “martyr effect”. This occasion may bring a dramatic change on the way the Italian Government communicates to the electorate about its political activity.
In the last 20 years most of what has been reported through the media about the Government has focused on political, ethical and legal standpoints pro or contra Berlusconi (berlusconismo / antiberlusconismo). So what if the Cavaliere would definitely disappear from the local and international political scenario? The Government would lose one of its main communication issues. What will MPs tell voters they are debating about and working on, then? Real political actions? We all hope so…
