Although outwardly seemingly a small market, the Italian media are influential not only in the domestic Italian market, but also as an international player. Domestically, because of the cunningly intertwined relationship of the media, the marketplace and politics (the recent elections are an example of this) and internationally as Italy is one of the few countries in Europe that has managed to survive, in part, the onslaught of Murdochisation. The book will explore why politics and government are so closely linked, and assess the question of whether it's just national pride that has allowed the media to remain relatively independent of global groups. The focus is on the contemporary media, but the book importantly frames the media in the context of Italy, post the 1861 Unification through to the future of the media, via the ascendancy of one particular newspaper editor, that is Benito Mussolini and his exploitation of the mass media.