hydrarchist writes:
"Give Sky the 'Boot' "
Telestreet Rome
A flurry of activity has convulsed the Italian Telestreet project in recent days. This coordination of micro-broadcasters first came on air in the summer of 2002 in the form of Orfeo Tv, a neighborhood station based in Bologna, and a slew of others launched shortly thereafter. Transmissions occur on frequencies allocated to commercial broadcasters which lie unused either for reasons of local topography or due to simple lack of interest on the part of the assignee. Given the outlandish concentration of media ownership in Italy - where 90% of the audio-visual media is controlled directly or indirectly by Silvio Berlusconi - this recycling of frequencies has become a flashpoint for the development of critical approaches to information production and distribution. Despite being in breach of the law only one station had encountered legal problems until last thursday. Telefabrica was broadcasting in the area around the Fiat factory in Termini Imerese, where workers were on strike and involved in generalized protests against restructuring and layoffs, when they were closed by the Carabinieri in december of last year. They subsequently went back on air.
Last week the axe fell again, this time in the small town of Sigallia, near Ancona, in central Italy. A voluntary group principally occupied with care for the disabled had been broadcasting with the involvement of local members of the centre-left party, Democratici della Sinistra, under the name "DiscoVolante". The station was raided and closed by the Carabinieri for being in breach of the broadcasting regulations, and the studio sealed. Meanwhile it was learned that another Telestreet, this time in Pechioli near Pisa, would be closed on September 26th. In Pechioli the project is actually supported by the town council. Paradoxically, thus, these two recent targets represent those with strong institutional affiliations who practice a form of broadcasting that would appear to fall within very orthodox definitions of legitimacy. Media insurgents did not let this attack go unpunished, as you will see below, but first a a little context....
