It is not easy to talk about the role of the mass media in this overwhelmingly significant phase in European history. History and news become confused, and one's impressions tend to be a mixture of skepticism and optimism. (46) Television is one of the means by which these feelings are created and conveyed--and perhaps never before has it served so much to connect different peoples and nations as in the recent events in Europe. The Europe that is now forming cannot be anything other than its peoples, their cultures and national identities. With this in mind we can begin to analyze the European television scene. (47) In Europe, as elsewhere, multi-media groups have been increasingly successful:groups which bring together television, radio, newspapers, magazines and publishing houses that work in relation to one another. One Italian example would be the Berlusconi group, while abroad Maxwell and Murdoch come to mind.