https://www.flickr.com/photos/59691341@N00/400847823
Both in Italy and Europe migration has been an often debated phenomenon, both by politicians and civil society. Media, reflecting the most relevant social phenomena, have also devoted considerable attention to this issue and have given voice, in some cases, to violent reactions and rejection from social and political sectors. This overabundance of information has brought out the existence of a rhetoric based on “ethnic-racial” stereotypes and prejudices. Is it possible to identify responsibilities of the media in the diffusion and amplification of a climate of hostility and rejection towards “foreigners” and minorities? Is it possible to determine narrative “recurrences” that have accompanied the treatment of migration and the foreign presence in Italy, and therefore legitimized discriminatory discourses? The aim of the contribution is to answer to these questions, retracing the lights and shadows of mainstream information in Italy on these issues.
