[00:05.91]2005

[00:08.03]It is not easy to talk about the role of the mass media

[00:11.05]in this overwhelmingly significant phase in European history.

[00:15.56]History and news become confused,

[00:18.08]and one's impressions tend to be a mixture

[00:20.69]of skepticism and optimism.

[00:23.02](1)

[00:26.15]are created and conveyed

[00:28.16]--and perhaps never before has it served so much

[00:30.86]to connect different peoples and nations

[00:33.69]as in the recent events in Europe.>

[00:36.32]The Europe that is now forming

[00:37.93]cannot be anything other than its peoples,

[00:40.55]their cultures and national identities.

[00:43.38]With this in mind we can begin to analyze

[00:45.90]the European television scene.

[00:48.41](2)

[00:49.91]multi-media groups have been increasingly successful;

[00:53.13]groups which bring together television, radio,

[00:56.36]newspapers, magazines and publishing houses

[01:00.08]that work in relation to one another.>

[01:02.60]One Italian example would be the Berlusconi group,

[01:06.24]while abroad Maxwell and Murdoch come to mind.

[01:09.86]Clearly, only the biggest and most flexible television companies

[01:13.50]are going to be able to compete in such a rich

[01:16.54]and hotly-contested market.

[01:19.06](3)

[01:20.23]that the television business

[01:21.94]is not an easy world to survive in,

[01:24.48]a fact underlined by statistics

[01:26.80]that show that out of eighty European television networks,

[01:30.83]no less than 50% took a loss in 1989.>

[01:34.96]Moreover, the integration of the European community

[01:38.08]will oblige television companies to cooperate more closely

[01:42.02]in terms of both production and distribution.

[01:45.44](4)

[01:47.56]that respects the different cultures and traditions

[01:50.39]which go to make up the connecting fabric of the Old Continent

[01:54.61]is no easy task and demands a strategic choice>

[01:58.85]--that of producing programs in Europe for Europe.

[02:02.79]This entails reducing our dependence

[02:04.81]on the North American market,

[02:06.82]whose programs relate to experiences

[02:09.22]and cultural traditions which are different from our own.

[02:12.85]In order to achieve these objectives,

[02:15.17]we must concentrate more on co-productions,

[02:18.10]the exchange of news,

[02:19.68]documentary services and training.

[02:22.39]This also involves the agreements

[02:24.41]between European countries for the creation

[02:26.73]of a European bank for Television Production which,

[02:30.97]on the model of the European Investments Bank,

[02:33.98]will handle the finances necessary for production costs.

[02:37.91](5)

[02:40.54]it is no exaggeration to say,

[02:42.65]"United we stand, divided we fall">

[02:46.18]--and if I had to choose a slogan

[02:48.20]it would be "Unity in our diversity."

[02:51.52]A unity of objectives that nonetheless respect

[02:54.35]the varied peculiarities of each country.