Ethereal Shadows - Communications and Power in Contemporary Italy

Franco ""Bifo"" Berardi, Marco Jacquemet, & Gianfranco Vitali Translated from Italian by Jessica Otey

Focusing on Italian “videocracy,” Ethereal Shadows documents the emergence of the first Italian media mogul, Silvio Berlusconi, and his rises and falls from political power. It also explores Italian media activism through three case studies: a discussion of the first autonomous free radio station, Radio Alice (broadcasting in Bologna between 1977 and 1979); a review of Italian Internet activism focusing on the site Rekombinant.org (launched in 2000); and a chronicle of the emergence of OrfeoTV in 2002, the first illegal micro-TV station in Italy. 

“Ethereal Shadows is a landmark achievement in contemporary media studies: a must read for anyone who wants to understand contemporary media power— the impasses of totalitarian spectacular power as well as the exodus routes of autonomous constituent communication powers.” — Jack Z. Bratich, author Conspiracy Panics