To glimpse just how dangerous, consider Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s MediaSet conglomerate has seduced broad swathes of the electorate since the 1980’s with a Murdoch-like combination of insipid variety shows and partisan political theater. When Italy’s postwar party system collapsed in the early 1990’s, Berlusconi was able to establish his own political party, win power, and, over the course of three governments, bend laws and government institutions to serve his business and personal interests.
为了简单描述一下究竟有多大危害，试想一下意大利，当总理贝卢斯科尼的MediaSet企业联合体自1980年代以来就采取了与默多克类似的手段，利用乏味表演和党派政治剧场的结合体吸引了大多数选民。结果当意大利的战后政党系统在1990年崩溃之后，贝卢斯科尼得以建立自己的政党，赢得权力，并在三届的政府任期中滥用法律和政府机关来为自己的企业和个人利益服务。