Got the power La Repubblica is one of the few dailies that has dared to speak out against Berlusconi. One of the reasons it's so outspoken is its owner, Carlo DiBenedetti, who once tried to buy Italy's second-largest publishing house, Mondadore.
Instead, Berlusconi took control of it by bribing judges, David Lane said.
But newspapers don't have a great deal of influence on the Italian public.
La Repubblica and
l'Unita, the two main papers openly critical of Italy's leader, have a combined circulation of less than 800,000. The real power lies in television.
Berlusconi's three privately owned channels are renowned for combining fluffy entertainment with fawning political talk shows. This lightweight, fun and games combo has been key to swaying a lot of voters, said Giovanni Valentini.
"And we know that about 6 percent of the voters vote under the influence of television. This 6 percent is about 3 million people," Valentini said. "In the last political elections, we had about 600,000 votes between center-left and center-right. This is the problem."
Voters not convinced
But it may not be as big as critics have feared. In April regional elections across the country voters voiced their widespread dissatisfaction with Berlusconi and his government. Candidates from opposition parties swept into power in 11 out of 13 regions. With national elections a year away, voters have shown they're no longer so amenable to Berlusconi's self-serving laws and poor handling of the economy. Nor do they buy his recent explanation for the bad economic outlook -- that Italians don't work hard enough and vacation to much.
Do Italians spend to much time on holiday?
Even TV appearances aren't helping this time, according to Tommaso DiBenedetti. "Berlusconi is now over-exposed. And his credibility is really, really weak."
But it's not just a question of overexposure. As Giovanni Valentini said, promotion only works if the product is good. "But when the product is old, is not good, is bad, television is not enough."
And now that Italians are feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks, it seems they may be ready to change the channel.
