Silvio Berlusconi, the divisive former Italian Prime Minister and boss of mass media group Mediaset (now doing business as MediaForEurope – MFE), has died aged 86. Faultline usually steers clear of giving airtime to individuals, but such has been Berlusconi’s seizing influence on the media landscape, that his legacy – like it or not – lives on, inevitably. This influence has of course been most significant in Europe, but the businessman and politician has arguably played an understated part in US politics, where it has been proposed that Berlusconi inspired the rise of Donald Trump into the White House. The comparison is about the blurring of the lines between entertainment and politics. In Berlusconi’s case, he held a monopoly over…