Of Marcello Foa

Source: aldogiannuli
The contemporary world is characterized by a heated debate on the role and future of information: information always seen as an instrumental component of modernity, given that diatribes such as the one that arose over so-called fake news were essentially focused on their consequences for electoral purposes. The information is, in any case, a battlefield where each contender is interested in putting their most refined strategies into play; a very often overlooked role is the one played, in this context, by spin doctors, communication experts linked to political power who, moving in the shadow line between institutional and personal communication of leaders, exercise a decisive weight in the orientation of public opinion.

And precisely the improper weapon of spin, of its sociological and psychological determinants and its important political consequences is a fundamental text for understanding current events: it is the masterly essay by Marcello Foa, The sorcerers of the news – Act two, published by Guerini, updated version published in 2018 of a previous work by Foa del 2006. Foa, director of the editorial group of Corriere del Ticino e owner of the independent blog Il cuore del mondo on the Il Giornale website, He has a long journalistic career behind him and in his work he puts all his skills at the service of a fundamental objective: reveal the double games of international communication and reel off spin in all its components, starting from well-defined historical examples.
Foa gets the credit, Indeed, to combine the concreteness of his analysis with a rigorous presentation of the history of the phenomenon of media manipulation in the service of political-economic power. From the forerunners of spin doctors, among which the real one stands out “father” of propaganda, Edward Bernays, we reach the victory of the "news wizards" of the 1980s, at the time of the rise of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher on both sides of the Atlantic.
Foa shows how in the spin era there has been an extreme valorization of the image superstructure linked to the political world and how accurate communication, well targeted on the target audience, represents the necessary premise for any electoral campaign, to the detriment of any content basis. At the same time, The ability demonstrated by Washington's communications apparatus to prepare the ground in public opinion for the war launched by the United States against Iraq in 2003 ma, at the same time, the observation that spin and manipulation are anything but invincible. And the main vulnerability of information flow control techniques is linked to the breakdown of the so-called dominant frames, that is, narratives built around certain social and political phenomena, when they come into clear contradiction with reality.
Two fundamental cases of frames cited by Foa are that of the euro, whose ineffability and usefulness was preached until a few years ago, in the public debate, it was impossible to open a real debate, and the one linked to the controversial procedure of the "rescue" of Greece, effectively devastated by austerity programs. And here we must remember another fundamental merit of Foa: his ability, in recent years, of having invested his professionalism in a difficult criticism of a political status quo, economic and media that, until relatively recently, it seemed to hold in a grantic manner. Of having been among the few Italian journalists to remain truly worthy of this name, having always pursued objectivity and clarity in his investigation. Few exponents of Italian culture, and Europe in general, have had the courage to undertake a conscious critique of the dominant narrative in the traditional media and the political system on issues of fundamental importance such as the economic crisis, relations between the West and Russia, the future of the euro and the role of information in the social fabric.
Foa was one of the first, together with personalities such as the economists Alberto Bagnai and Sergio Cesaratto and the journalist Fulvio Scaglione, at a stage in which this choice was not at all neutral or risk-free. And precisely because of his ability to unmask spin his testimony, in these decisive times, it is even more important: for this reason we wanted to ask Marcello Foa some questions on Italian and international current affairs and on the future prospects of politics and information.
For several years, by now, together with Bagnai, Messora, Since you have initiated a reasonable criticism, constructive and decisive nature of the current economic system, political and informative. What is the legacy of the battles fought in recent years? How did the “asymmetries” that give your study association its name develop??
The “asymmetries” are both economic and informational. Bagnai is a true master of economic asymmetries. And it is he who in the 2014 he asked me to come in and,in the association as vice presidentand taking the place of Claudio Borghi Aquilini.
Paradoxically, although formally we are in the era of 360° global information 24 hours up 24, citizens are not allowed to obtain correct information through traditional channels. Citizens are not allowed, especially to the more attentive and cultured ones, to get an objective idea of ​​the state of the economy and politics in Italy and in the world. All this creates those basic dysfunctions which, according to our analysis, have had serious repercussions. A topic that I deal with frequently is the "propaganda" that supported the introduction and implementation of the euro, which had two important consequences. First, until last year none of the major newspapers opened a debate on the real usefulness of the euro for the Italian economy. “Il Sole” did it 24 Hours” due to the pressure following the League's success in 2017: twenty years after the fixing of exchange rates, more than seven years after the start of the debt crisis. This isn't how things should work. And all this was done using spin techniques, orientation and manipulation of public opinion which I have been studying for many years and which are an important analytical filter. By skimming the propaganda of the institutions, we can better understand when these techniques fail.
Consequentially, what we are witnessing in recent months, it is a crisis of confidence in traditional parties and a need for authenticity that manifests itself across the board in all European countries. Politicians and the media have underestimated this phenomenon for years, deluding themselves that it was enough to channel public opinion towards certain issues in such a way that uncomfortable topics were not addressed in order to keep the balance of the system at bay in their interest.
To avoid undermining its foundations, let's say. In the end, but, as you write in The Sorcerers of the News, “too much spin damages the spin”.
Exactly.
In certain areas, lately, manipulation seems to be short of breath. And attacks against functional illiteracy are dominant in media analyzes and mainstream parties (see Calenda's recent statements) or regret for the inability of journalists to have their voting instructions followed. To what extent is this crisis a crisis of rejection? In what proportion have the new media contributed, many of whom are being demonized by the mainstream media?
Clearly new media have played a fundamental role. Until 2011 the Italians had seen that Paes, despite all its problems, he had managed to stay on the waterline. The beginning of the change in perception can be referred to Monti and his violently recessive policies conducted precisely at the moment when there was the greatest need for expansionary strategies. Pockets of hardship have been created in the social fabric at all levels, and sometimes of desperation, very large following the devastating and foolish maneuvers of the Monti government.
An important part of the Italian population began to wonder what was really happening and to distance themselves from the vulgarity of "traditional" newspapers and television, who persevered in the narrative of Monti as "savior of Italy" and with the mantra of "Europe asks us to do so". No one spoke of the discomfort these people were experiencing. They looked for answers to their questions and found them outside the traditional circuit, in alternative media, on blogs, are Facebook, on the websites of economists like Bagnai, Borghi and Rinaldi who were able to present an alternative vision. Also the success of Beppe Grillo's blog, basically, was born from this need. What the establishment didn't understand, throughout the West, was that this phenomenon was not to be underestimated, but that the sum of the alternative information was such as to generate phenomena of ethical rebellion, political and civic which then led to Brexit, to Trump's victory, to the success of the right in Austria, Poland, Czech Republic e, In the end, to the success of the so-called "populists" in Italy.
"Populist", in fact, it is the label that the mainstream has given to what it persists in not wanting to understand. The heterogeneous group of parties included in this definition have consciously directed the political dialectic along a new direction, that is, that of the contrast between the people and the elite. Recently, for example, the Northern League member Giorgetti, current undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council, cited this fault line in a manner similar to that theorized by Marxist thinker Ernesto Laclau. According to her, this dividing line is satisfactory for explaining the new dynamics taking place?
In my opinion this is a correct analysis. League and Five Star Movement, each in their own way, they have the courage to propose different visions of society. Both in Italy and in other countries, the success of the new political lines is the result of the population's dissatisfaction with the traditional political offer. People put their trust in those who had the strength to put forward different ideas: they listened to Trump in the USA, the winning parties of the vote listened here 4 March. This is not a transitory phenomenon, ma un cambiamento di lungo termine che sta scombussolando radicalmente il quadro politico internazionale, di cui secondo me non abbiamo ancora visto tutti gli effetti.
Quindi lei ritiene che sia un’illusione il famoso “tocca a loro” di Renzi, secondo cui per effetto di un eventuale fallimento del governo di Lega e M5S le persone torneranno a votare per le formazioni tradizionali?
Si tratta di un pensiero assolutamente fuorviante.
Come stanno reagendo, Instead, gli spin doctor legati all’establishment?
The spin doctors, e prima ancora i loro committenti, stanno adottando la peggiore risposta possibile. Da un lato vengono applicate le solite tecniche di manipolazione, dall’altro stanno facendo una cosa molto pericolosa tentando, soprattutto i partiti, di imporre la censura. Le recenti diatribe su privacy, copyright, fake news testifies to this. These are all excuses to limit and inhibit alternative sites. So far these attempts have only caused scratches, but not a real block. Going too far with these policies would damage the network and the nascent world. The copyright legislation presented to the European Parliament represents an important example and is very dangerous. If these steps were to become effective, it would take away the information lifeblood of the public, transforming democracies into "fake democracies" dominated by real regime information. I hope this doesn't happen.
Let's now come to Italy: even before the elections you indicated that the League and the Five Star Movement would be the parties to which Italians would most delegate their trust for the solution to the country's problems. After the establishment of the yellow-green executive you have repeatedly defended the legitimacy of the choices and policies of the Conte government: what prospects does the new government have in the medium to long term? We are at the beginning of a new bipolarism?
The prospects are difficult to establish. Today both parties have an interest in demonstrating that they know how to change things and the charm of the government experience drives their will to move forward. Contingent political interests will determine whether the government will continue through the legislature. In my opinion, this phase in which neither of the two has a majority has passed, and considering the fact that the two parties will most likely make a new electoral law, it is difficult to think that their consensus could return to forces such as the Democratic Party and Forza Italia, which in the Italian collective imagination belong to the past. They have had years to prove their legitimacy, today we are faced with a new potential bipolarism between these two parties, who share the same civic spirit. I hope that this phase can lead to the establishment of a new relationship, more civilized and less hypocritical, between government and opposition forces. I hope that the League and the Five Star Movement can play with their cards exposed: the contract they signed is important, because they put the common programmatic points on paper by making compromises. The intention of wanting to apply what was declared is perceived.
What could be the main weaknesses of the government contract?
In my opinion the weak points mainly concern financial coverage. It's hard to think, for example, to the coexistence between flat tax and citizen's income in the absence of a coherent economic plan. On the opposite side there are important proposals such as the desire to eliminate numerous absurd constraints on public works at a local level.
An encouraging message, in any case, it is seeing numerous spokespersons for the battles you have waged in recent years enter the institutions.
Vero. Borghi and Bagnai are presidents of commissions in Parliament, while Luciano Barra Caracciolo is Undersecretary of State for European Affairs. This is certainly an encouraging sign.
edited by Andrea Muratore and Ivan Giovi