L’immigrazione nel discorso politico. Una lettura delle narrazioni dei telegiornali italiani prima e durante l’emergenza Covid-19

Over the last few years, the migratory phenomenon has been a central theme in the public debate in Europe, both in politics and in civil society movements. Television news devotes extensive attention to the phenomenon: throughout 2019, in prime-time news, only one day saw the absence of news related to migration and its protagonists. Furthermore, our information system tends to support the current political agenda, depicting immigration as a battleground, and therefore amplifying its alarmist and de-legitimizing declinations. Several researches have shown that, in the last decade, the highest number of anxious news on the issue of immigration were recorded in perfect coincidence with the electoral campaigns for the administrative, national or European vote. Little research, however, has revealed how political subjects are the main source for news regarding immigration, and how much the media agenda follows the political one. Among the main results of the analysis - when comparing the first quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 - there is the overlapping of the immigration agenda and the political agenda also in the first quarter of 2020 that was characterized by the Covid-19 emergency, and a decrease in news on immigration. In 7 out of 10 news items, the main source of news on immigration is made up old statements, speeches, and political interactions.