ITALIAN NEWSCAST SLAMMED FOR BIAS

The Italian broadcast regulator AGCOM has fined Italy’s TG1 news program, broadcast on the state-owned RAI Uno network, 100,000 euros ($142,000) for giving government officials, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, too much airtime during the current political campaign. Opposition leaders had complained that Berlusconi, whose Mediaset empire owns three TV networks in Italy, was attempting to make the government channel his fourth by appointing close allies to run it. A year ago, news anchor Maria Luisa Busi walked out of TG1, charging that it was biased in favor of Berlusconi.