when words hurt: the representation of migration in the italian media
TRANSCRIPT
When words hurt: the representation of
migration in the Italian media
Sabrina Mansutti Matricola: 723374
Università degli studi di Bologna
Humanitarian communication 2015/2016, 1st semester
Professor: Pierluigi Musarò
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Index
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Media ethics..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Words that should not be underestimated............................................................................................................... 4 Carta di Roma....................................................................................................................................................................... 5
The public opinion ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Facts in the media.......................................................................................................................................... 7 Case study: the tragedy of Lampedusa ...................................................................................................................... 7 Use of words in some headlines..................................................................................................................................... 8
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................ 9
References .....................................................................................................................................................11 Bibliography........................................................................................................................................................................11 Sitography ............................................................................................................................................................................11
Appendix ........................................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The aim of the paper is to analyze the way the Italian media picture immigrants and the
possible consequences. An inappropriate use of words such as “clandestino” or
“extracomunitario” and describing the migration process as an invasion can hurt the people
they refer to and contribute to create stereotypes among the Italian population. Talking about
migration is a difficult task and the spectre of fostering the dichotomy “us” and “them” is
always behind the corner. The UNHCR itself, after the media turmoil of Erba (province of
Como) in December 20061, has expressed its concerns about the media coverage of the event
in the Italian media. After that event the National Council of the Order of Journalists and the
National Federation of the Italian Press established a working group to elaborate a
Journalist’s Code of Conduct on immigration (signed in 2008). In order to implement this
code, it has been created the association Carta di Roma that among its tasks has also the duty
to publish dossiers on the work of the Italian media. In the first part of the paper I will briefly
make some observations on media ethics, describe the meaning and the erroneous use of
some words and talk about the association Carta di Roma. I will then analyze the effect of a
certain narration on the public opinion. Then, with the help of the 2014 dossier published by
Carta di Roma I will make some concrete examples, with a special focus on the 2013
Lampedusa’s shipwreck. Finally, I will demonstrate the wrong use of words through the
headlines of some articles.
Media ethics
Representing migration is a difficult task and often the media, willing or not, simplify
and generalize news without taking into consideration the personal stories of the people
involved in the process of migration. Often represented as “desperate” or “potential
criminals”, immigrants tend to be put all in the same boat independently of their origins or
legal status. We witness a process of depersonalization in which, through preconditioned and
repeated labels, stereotypes are strengthen and reiterated. The frame in which immigrants
are usually pictured is humanitarian, securitarian or the one of emergency. Immigrants are 1 Four murders took place in Erba and a Tunisian citizen, Azouz Marzouk, was initially accused
of them. The media immediately pictured him as the only possible guilty. The investigation revealed later that the guilty were an italian couple.
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associated with the concepts of emergency, invasion, landing, desperation, criminality and
terrorism. According to the media there is often a linkage between desperation and potential
dangerousness. This emergency frame recalls legality and public order and is nourished by
the spectacle of suffering and victimization. (Parmiggiani, 2014:64). The use of a certain kind
of language by the mainstream media and political discourse fosters a negative perception of
migration by the citizens. Moreover, representing migration emphasizing the pattern of
invasion can make even more difficult the complex process of integration. Van Dijk talks about
an ideological frame of racism, based on the definition between “us” and “them”, between a
negative and problematic representation of them and a positive and a-‐problematic
representation of us (Van Dijk, 1994 quoted by Parmiggiani, 2014:65).
Words that should not be underestimated
The immigrant is often defined through its ethnicity or origin. Important is the fact that
according to research usually the media tend to point more to these characteristics when the
immigrant is a potential criminal rather then when he/she is the victim (Solano, 2014:110).
This ethnicization of information is very dangerous because it presumes that there is a direct
linkage between ethnic origin and criminal behaviour. If “immigrant” is the word used most
frequently and has quite a neutral meaning, there are two other terms that have a particularly
negative connotation. The first one is “extracomunitario”, which should refer to citizens of
countries outside the European Union but has actually never been used for citizens of the USA,
Switzerland, Australia or other “rich” countries. In fact, it is almost never used in its juridical
meaning. More often it describes people coming from poor countries, emphasizing their
distance from the Italian and European culture2. The wrong use and the linkage with poverty
are evident when it is sometimes used to describe Romanian people that are actually
European Union citizens. The second term, that actually apparently is replacing the former, is
“clandestino”. This term digresses from the meaning of being a non-‐documented migrant to
describing the “bad immigrant” that is prone to criminal acts (Solano, 2014:112). It is often
erroneously used to describe also asylum seekers. Both words express perfectly the gap
between “us” and “them”.
Of course, there is no attempt to deny that there might be some immigrants that commit
criminal acts or that they might cause problems that have to be reported by the media. The
2 Italian version of the definition here:
http://web.giornalismi.info/mediarom/indici/ind_232.html
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point is that a responsible journalism cannot allow a random linkage between those criminal
acts and immigrants. There is the necessity to have an ethic of information and
communication based on the principle of responsibility. As Dominici states in one of his works
I don’t believe that there is the need of further written rules and top-‐down impositions, rather
shared and accepted principles that originate from the subjects involved (Dominici, Panarese,
2004:130). The issue is very delicate because journalists often see in any allusion to a more
responsible right/duty of reporting facts an attempt to limit their freedom of information or
even freedom of speech. On the other hand, journalists are more and more aware of the
power of the media, of their capacity to influence the thinking of social actors and public
opinion. The crucial point is that the journalist cannot forget to respect the privacy and
dignity of the people in order to pursue unscrupulously its right to inform.
Carta di Roma
The Carta di Roma3 is born exactly from the firm belief that there is the necessity to have
information that is socially and morally responsible. In the Charter a lot of attention is put on
the lexicon, the necessity to go into deep on the issues addressed and on diversification of
sources. The Charter invites the journalists to adopt terms juridically appropriate in order to
give the readers the most possible accurate version of the facts. It is a system of rules that
does not expect to decide on the editorial line of the mass media. This is why even the media
that are against immigrants can respect it. It does not judge the political orientation of the
news or say that journalists should picture immigrants in a positive way. What it does is
stating that: facts have to be described using the appropriate juridical terms, that news have
always to be precise, that when talking about refugees their identity must be respected in
order to avoid putting them or their family in trouble and finally, that journalists should ask
for the advise of experts when in doubt. To sum up, its aim is only to state how to report
correctly news on migration. The association monitors constantly the work of the mass media
because it strongly believes that following those four simple rules can, in the long run, reduce
considerably stereotypes.
3 A deontological code of conduct on migration, asylum seekers, refugees and trade’s victims,
signed (in 2008) by the National Council of the Order of Journalists and the National Federation of the Italian Press, in collaboration with UNCHR – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
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The public opinion
Media representation has a great potential and can both foster a hostile environment
and encourage an intercultural environment among the citizens, depending on its attitude.
But how vulnerable is the public opinion to the media? Migration is a topic on everyone’s lips
and citizens are both experiencing it directly and being bombed by news of every sort. The
kind of direct contact that citizens have with migration has to be taken in consideration to
understand how they perceive and react to it. Firsthand experience is crucial and can change
considerably the impact of the media. The less is the direct experience the more is the impact
of the media. On the contrary, when firsthand experience is really strong the media have a
weaker effect and tend just to legitimate personal opinions. In fact, research has shown that
although the media are a unique source to spread a common knowledge of facts, firsthand
experience is far more deciding in the process of integration. Regarding more specifically the
public opinion we also have to make an other distinction between people that inform
themselves less and usually have a low level of education and people that obtain information
from a varied range of sources (TV, printed and online newspapers, social media). Usually, the
former tend to be less prone to integration and understanding of diversity (Martino,
2004:245). That being said, we should not minimize the media’s role; even if they do not
influence opinions stricto sensu, they play an important part in determining both the political
agenda and the knowledge of citizens about certain issues. Therefore, it is important for them
to keep working on their professional ethics. The point is that people tend to choose which
media to rely on according to their personal beliefs and opinions. As a consequence, the media
rather than creating opinions confirm them and fill them with knowledge. Wolf observes that
the media influence actions on the topics they represent and they make them part of the
common consciousness and culture (Wolf, 2000 quoted by Calvanese, 2011:2014). The
representation of reality by the media influences the interpretation of the final recipients. As
already pointed out, this influence is stronger when people spend more time using the media
rather than having direct contact with the social environment (Cheli, 2002 quoted by
Calvanese, 2011:105).
It is undeniable that nowadays migration has great media coverage. Still, it is also
undeniable that information is mostly focused on illegality and criminality and on the
boundless flow of immigrants towards Europe. Representing immigrants among the pattern of
security and emergency creates a widespread feeling of insecurity and anguish among people.
These feelings reinforce the sense of belonging to local communities and encourage narrow-‐
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minded behaviour. The media usually tells topics like integration, solidarity and humanitarian
assistance, except for few cases, linked to voluntary work and the religious sphere. There is a
tendency to exclude migration from traditional media when it does not represent a problem
and a danger (Calvanese, 2011:93).
Facts in the media
In order to understand better the representation of immigrants in the media we will use
the annual report published in 2014 by the association Carta di Roma called “Notizie alla
deriva”. The report deals with the year 2013, which is particularly important because it is the
year of Lampedusa’s shipwreck. Djordje Sredanovic and Ardiana Zenuni of the University of
Bologna in their research for the report have analyzed all the front pages published in 2013
by the two major Italian newspapers, that is Corriere della Sera and Repubblica, and of two
newspaper that represent two different political orientations, L’Unità and Il Giornale. First of
all, according to the data analyzed by the University of Bologna the media coverage of
immigration has almost doubled on the 4 newspapers taken into consideration. Of the
analyzed sample, 34% of the news regards migration flows. The majority of the articles
analyzed (76%) represent facts linked to immigrants and minorities in a positive way. What is
interesting to notice is that in these positive representations the migrant is mainly depicted in
a passive way: people that run from extreme poverty or political persecutions and are not the
creators of their own destiny. The idea of people that leave their country with a precise
project in mind is almost absent. Regarding this, table 1 shows a clear prevalence of the
passive representation in all kind of news related to migration.
Case study: the tragedy of Lampedusa
First of all, we have to underline that although landings constitute just a little part of the
arrivals in Italy, they are the most reported in the media4. Of the news regarding migration
flows, 50 % of them are about landings, 33% about other kind of irregular entries and only
17% about the other ways of migration (family reunification, regular entries, etc). The tragedy
of Lampedusa (3rd October 2013) is part of this kind of news, but distinguishes itself for
breaking the routine of landing’s representation for two main reasons: first of all, three of the
4 According to the data (2007) of the Ministry of the Interior, of the immigrants without legal
documents only 14% has arrived in Italy with an irregular landing.
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four newspapers have talked about it in a great part of their front pages due to the
significance of the event; secondly, the event had media coverage for a long and continuous
period because of its political implications (i.e. abolition of the “crime of illegality”, the
creation of operation Mare Nostrum and the debate on the law Bossi-‐Fini). Already before this
event we read about deaths in the Mediterranean, but probably we soon forgot about it. As
usual, mainstream media are interested in big and catastrophic events. This episode was so
shocking that produced a high-‐attention phase on the topic of landings and on all the issues
related.
Marinella Belluati of the University of Torino analyzes the news about Lampedusa’s
shipwreck thoroughly. The study refers to the front pages of October 2013 and aims to bring
out the structure of the media coverage and the principle frames of narration. Moreover, there
is a special focus, particularly interesting for this paper, on the language used in some articles
during the week of the tragedy (t4th-‐10th October). Although in her study she takes into
consideration nine Italian newspapers, I will refer only to the four newspapers already
mentioned.
The day after the shipwreck the front pages of the newspapers (you can see them in
table 2) were all about what happened in Lampedusa. The pattern is more or less the same:
words like tragedy and massacre and strong images, mostly of dead bodies covered by
tarpaulins. The spectacle of suffering splashed across the front pages. From the lexical
analysis of the texts published during the week of the tragedy emerges that there as been
emphasis on the emotional aspect of the public discourse, distancing the attention from a
contextualised discourse that could give hints to the political agenda setting. The
predominance of words like bodies, victims, dead bodies, death and tragedy puts the event into
the humanitarian frame, shadowing the political-‐institutional aspects5. It is interesting to
notice that when we talk about migration using the humanitarian frame the feelings that
arouse are guilty, indignation6 and pity. But where do those feeling disappear when migrants
are not dead bodies in the sea but rather people in search of help, work or hospitality?
Use of words in some headlines
I have done a little research through the search engines of the four newspapers I have
referred to in this paper in order to see in which context some words where used. I will refer
5 For a detailed analysis see paragraph 7.3 of the Report 6 Both La Repubblica and L’Unità put the word shame in the headlines of their front pages
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to the headlines of some news to make some examples of the thoughtlessness through which
they are sometimes conceived.
The headline showed in table 3 is from Il Giornale and states: “A clandestino has been
arrested three times”. Unfortunately, in the subheading it states that the same person has
residence permit due to humanitarian reasons. We are not here to discuss whether this
person has committed some crime or not; the point is that the headline uses a wrong term. If
this person has residence permit due to humanitarian reasons, it cannot be a non-‐
documented migrant.
The headline showed in table 4 is from Il Corriere della Sera and says: “Drunk foreigner
attacks a woman”. Moreover in the first lines of the article we can read the word
extracomunitario. In this kind of news, do we really need to specify if the assailant is Italian or
not in the headline? This kind of headline connects the criminal act with being a foreigner and
spreads biases towards all foreigners with a certain background.
The headline showed in table 5 is from La Repubblica and states “ Catania, coupled killed
in the house: (..). Stopped refugee in the centred of Mineo”. Again, matching these two
sentences in a headline risks to link refugees with murders and to create scaremongering
among the population. Since people often only read the headlines, newspaper should be more
careful about them.
These were just three examples that according to me perfectly exemplify what has been
stated in this paper. First of all, journalists sometimes, on purpose or not, use the wrong
terminology. I believe that a responsible journalism should inform while educating. One
cannot take lightly his/her job and should be prepared enough to use at the right moment the
right words. Using incorrectly juridical terms spreads a falsified vision of some issues.
Secondly, as we have seen through these examples, even media like La Repubblica and Il
Corriere della sera that officially do not have a political orientation, risk to spread
stereotypical images of immigrants. I sometimes see a certain disregard for the people
newspapers tell about. There seems to be just the urgency for the piece of news, without
caring too much whom this news may hurt and which effects could have on the readers.
Conclusion
As comes to light from the data and examples showed in this paper, the Italian media are
not unrelated to picturing migration and immigrants in a biased way. There is evidence that
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some of them use juridical terms in wrong ways and that news are often reported in a way
that can foster stereotypes and racist attitudes. There is a tendency to suggest a linkage
between migration and deviant behaviours. When reporting landings or other kind of arrivals
the events are framed in a humanitarian or emergency pattern. When referring to migrants in
Italy there is often a recall to security issues. In general, the mass media focus on the single
events that make news and on representing the flow of migrants as an invasion and less on the
weaknesses of the management of this flow. This puts the attention on them rather than on us
and on how we deal with the situation.
Carta di Roma code of conduct is an interesting and important step because it has
increased the attention on this issue. However, as all the deontological codes it has its limits.
The main point is that it is a self-‐regulation code born from the realisation by the order of the
journalists that there was the necessity to have an additional regulation. The weakness is in
the fact that there are no sanctions. The risk is that journalists that already were doing
ethically their job will keep doing that and that the others will not change their modus
operandi. In my opinion before criticizing the public opinion we should look at the work of
journalists. Newspapers should be more responsible, follow meticulously the code of conduct
and always make sure that their contributors are prepared enough on the subject and will do
the same.
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References
Bibliography
⎯ Calvanese, E. (2011). Media e immigrazione tra stereotipi e pregiudizi. La
rappresentazione dello straniero nel racconto giornalistico. Franco Angeli, Milano
⎯ Dominici, P. e Panarese, P. (2004). Notizie “fuori luogo”. Questioni di
responsabilità. In: Binotto, M., Martino, V. (2004). Fuori Luogo. L’immigrazione e i media
italiani. Luigi Pellegrini Editore, Cosenza, 129-‐158
⎯ Frana, G., (2014) La questione migratoria nei mass-media italiani, Università
degli Studi di Bergamo
⎯ Martino, V. (2004). Immigrazione, media e opinione pubblica. In: Binotto, M.,
Martino, V. (2004). Fuori Luogo. L’immigrazione e i media italiani. Luigi Pellegrini
Editore, Cosenza, 239-‐254
⎯ Notizie alla deriva: Secondo rapporto annuale Associazione Carta di Roma (2014)
⎯ Parmiggiani, P. (2014). Comunicare l’immigrazione in Italia. In: Musarò, P.,
Parmiggiani, P. (2014). Media e migrazioni. Etica, estetica e politica del discorso
umanitario. Franco Angeli, Milano, 63-‐85
⎯ Solano, G. (2014). Da extracomunitario a clandestino: l’immigrato nei discorsi dei
media. In: Musarò, P., Parmiggiani, P. (2014). Media e migrazioni. Etica, estetica e politica
del discorso umanitario. Franco Angeli, Milano, 109-‐123
Sitography
⎯ Carta di Roma website (Online), Available: http://www.cartadiroma.org (9
December 2015)
⎯ Giornalisti contro il razzismo website (Online), Available:
http://web.giornalismi.info/mediarom/indici/ind_232.html (9 December 2015)
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Appendix
Table 1
Source: Report Carta di Roma, p. 35
Table2
13
Source: Report Carta di Roma, p. 65
Table 3
Source: Il Giornale, 20/11/2014
Table 4
Source: Il Corriere della Sera, 13/9/2013
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Table 5
Source: La Repubblica, 30/08/2015