Italian Media Landscape

"There is a striking contrast between the dissemination of the concept of neopatrimonial rule in Africa and its more parsimonious mobilisation outside the continent. The increasing assimilation of the African neopatrimonial state to integral and predatory forms of politics has contributed to its perception as a global prototype of the ‘antidevelopmental’ state. The article contrasts this trajectory with those observed in Latin America, South East Asia, Russia and Central Asia. There, patrimonialism and neopatrimonialism have been associated with
a greater axiological neutrality than in Africa due, inter alia, to the
preservation of an analytical dichotomy between regulated and predatory forms of neopatrimonialism. Neglected for all too long, the study of regulated forms of neopatrimonialism in Africa calls for fresh empirical and theoretical attention."

L’Italia vista dal cielo is a documentary series directed by Folco Quilici and produced by Esso Italiana from 1967 to 1978. The fourteen films are narrated with texts by some prominent Italian intellectuals and are shot using an innovative system of aerial photography. The article discusses how the series intersects some discourses of the time (also in the geographical discipline) about the new crisis of representability of Italian landscape, a problem these films symptomatically try to remedy.

Silvio Berlusconi has unquestionably been one of Italy’s most important political figures since the early 1990s. The general election campaign of February 2013 demonstrated that he is anything but out of the political game. Consequently, it seems worthwhile to examine Berlusconi as a prime minister and coalition leader. This article seeks to understand the extent to which he was able to command and guide his governing coalition, as Prime Minister, as well as his influence and the constraints on his actions. After presenting the theoretical framework, the article examines Berlusconi within the context of Italian political history and explores his impact on coalition governance by illustrating two cases of how he managed intra-coalition conflicts during his second term of office. Finally, it discusses the findings and highlights the resources Berlusconi was able to deploy ‘against’ his allies and the constraints he faced as Prime Minister. A brief comparison of Berlusconi and other Italian prime ministers is provided

This article explores the relationship between fear of crime and political dynamics in Italy. Of particular relevance is the fact that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the richest person in Italy, controlling a large share of the mass media industry.
Berlusconi uses his media influence to cultivate the public’s fear of crime, for his own political gain. The chapter explores the social science literature concerning public issues, media coverage, and public fear. The Italian media landscape is described, including Berlusconi’s direct or indirect control of various media. The main thrust of the chapter explores the aspects of Berlusconi’s manipulation of crime coverage in media, which manipulates the public’s fear of crime, which in turn may be associated with voting behaviours. Concluding reflections explore the complexities of the model of media
manipulation presented and the importance of the Italian case in a global climate of continuing capital accumulation in media industries.

This paper aims to analyze the constitutive process of the Italian animated series ‘Winx Club’ (Rai 2, 2004-), and at the same time to identify the factors contributing to its import and airing in the United States.
The present case is examined on the basis of some of its own peculiarities: in the first place, Winx Club constitutes one of the very few occasions where an Italian audiovisual product – especially from the animation field – has been able to breach the apparently unchallenged unidirectionality of media flows on a global scale, which would usually go from the source core nation – that is the United States – to a virtually limitless number of target countries, cultures and media television contexts. Secondly, if media entertainment and fictional programming could be seen as ‘cultural products’ as they embody aesthetic norms, styles and views of a specific culture, Winx Club should be apparently considered as an exception to that rule, since it was designed specifically to incorporate a ‘global style’ that would not reveal the series’ geocultural background.
And yet, the show was subjected to a heavy editing process ahead of its US broadcast that led to changes both in substance and structure to the original product.
The two main centerpieces of this paper are therefore the detailed examination of both theoretical and practical aspects of the attempt at ‘universalizing’ the series, as well as the investigation into the potential reasons behind the US alterations of Winx Club. This comprehensive analysis is carried out by applying a strongly interdisciplinary approach that encompasses – and is enriched at the same time – by contributions coming from historical, sociological, economic and reception studies, in addition to theoretical frameworks stemming from (audiovisual) translation studies, film and media studies, as well as studies about children’s literature and translating for children.

The following excerpt contains the index, the introduction (written in Italian, as it is the main language employed in the paper) and an English abstract; in case you would like to read the full paper, feel free to contact me at jacopobenini@outlook.it.

The narrative of refugee children and adolescents has been almost absent from the Italian media since the start of the migratory flows that have been crossing the Mediterranean. While these groups feature erratically in journalist reporting, media attention typically revolves around geo-political facts related to the areas of origin of minors, the hardship of their journeys, and crime-related news, particularly in relation to adolescents. Stories of refugee children and adolescents are seldom heard in the media, leaving them unknown to the public and forming a representation that alternates a frame of victimhood to one of poverty-related delinquency. This research-based article presents the views of some of the main inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations working on the migrant humanitarian response in Italy. Their experience, knowledge, and suggestions on journalist media coverage of refugee children and adolescents have been gathered and offered here through a series of critical points. This article also wants to be a useful resource to organisations involved in similar work and especially to media outlets, for a reflection on their present and future effort in communicating about refugee children and adolescents.

"According to several studies, traditional Italian television framed the post- earthquake situation as a “miracle in L’Aquila” and a spectacular of the pain of those involved in the earthquake to impress the TV audience without respect for the feelings of the victims. In contrast to this situation, it seems that, on the Web, the victims of the tragedy could speak with their own voices without any media- tion.
The aim of this chapter is to explore how the dimension of pain was represent- ed on a cross-media platform – FromZero TV – that documented the lives of the people living in the tent camps after the earthquake tragedy. Using qualitative methodologies (video analysis and interviews), we found that this Web TV of- fered a considerate and balanced representation of pain in relation to the victims of the catastrophe. It also emerged that this platform was able to represent grief in a more respectful way adopting the same words and terms of the affected popula- tion, without having to stick to the rules of the traditional television agenda.
From Zero TV thus represents an interesting “experiment” in how new forms of television on the Internet can offer alternative representations of events and give a voice to ordinary people without having to appeal to the exhibitionism of feelings or to stick to the rules of the traditional media agenda."

Explores the semiosis of crime and media studies assemblage in the Erika and Omar homicide case in Novi Ligure.
This was later developed further and transformed in my Murder Made in Italy: Homicide, Media, and Contemporary Italian Culture available also here (firewalled):
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16gh662.11

"The current framework of television is undergoing strong processes of innovation, transformation and diversification. The displacement of the analogue television by digital technologies, the experience of digital terrestrial television, satellite TV and cable television, and the new opportunities supplied by the Internet and mobile devices are rapidly changing the television scenario.
After examining the differences between Internet Protocol Television (IP) and Net Television, we describe the general framework of Italian Net TV’s market. Then, we analyze a sub-sector of Net Television which is made up by all the existing Italian University Net TVs.
We argue that University Net TVs can play a very important role characterizing themselves as “knowledge TVs”, improving the quality of the overall programmes of Public and commercial television. These Net TVs might represent an alternative and powerful resource of information and knowledge to niches of audience interested in culture, education and a knowledge-based entertainment.
The reasons that constrain these Net TVs from taking off and becoming active players in the television scenario are: financial and fund-raising problems; the slowness and the extreme bureaucratization of Italian Universities procedures; the extremely fast turnover of students and the absence of a stable University Net TVs network.
Only by solving these problems might the Italian University Net TV really satisfy audience’s need for quality programmes and fully become “knowledge TVs”."

I bambini e gli adolescenti rifugiati sono quasi sempre assenti dai media italiani, sin dall'inizio dei flussi migratori che continuano ad attraversare il Mediterraneo. Anche quando questi gruppi sono presenti, sporadicamente, nei reportage dei giornalisti, i media tendono a focalizzarsi su fatti geopolitici relativi alle aree di provenienza, alle difficoltà dei loro viaggi e alle notizie inerenti al crimine, soprattutto quando si tratta di adolescenti. Le storie riguardanti minori rifugiati sono raramente ascoltate dai media, e di conseguenza per lo più sconosciute al pubblico, con una rappresentazione che alterna un quadro di vittimismo o delinquenza legata alla povertà. Questo articolo analizza le opinioni di alcune delle principali organizzazioni intergovernative e non governative che lavorano sulla risposta umanitaria dei migranti in Italia. Le loro esperienze, le competenze e i suggerimenti per una copertura mediatica adeguata sui minori rifugiati sono state raccolte e qui presentate attraverso una serie di punti critici. Questo articolo vuole anche essere una risorsa utile per le organizzazioni coinvolte in questa area di lavoro, incoraggiando giornalisti, organizzazioni umanitarie, ed altri enti a riflettere su come ridefinire la loro copertura mediatica sul tema.

Continua a leggere qui: https://openmigration.org/idee/ridefinire-limmagine-dei-bambini-e-degli-adolescenti-rifugiati-nei-media-impressioni-dal-fronte-italiano/

Explores the semiosis of crime and media studies assemblage in the Erika and Omar homicide case in Novi Ligure. This was later developed further and transformed in my Murder Made in Italy: Homicide, Media, and Contemporary Italian Culture available also here (firewalled): https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16gh662.11

On the 22nd September 2016, Beatrice Lorenzin, Italy's Health Minister launched the first Italian “Fertility Day” campaign, to fight the fertility decrease in the country. However, the sexist, offensive and old-fashioned ideologies of the campaign resulted in its failure. I examine some postcards of the campaign through semiotic analysis.

The essay is a preliminary research on the political economy of contemporary music videos in Italy. The author investigates the last changes in media ownership looking at music labels, television and radio companies. Additionally, it analyzes the outburst of online music videos, characterized by Vevo, and its effect on the contemporary music video industry. In conclusion, in order to comprehend how the national music videos industry works in practice, the essay evaluates clips by directors like Cosimo Alemá and Gaetano Morbioli as well as some examples of mainstream hip hop music videos.

In this article, I explore the conditions of the media in Italy by taking into consideration a variety of elements: the context of media legislation and media concentration that have favoured the interests of Silvio Berlusconi, and the role of progressive agency (media professionals, citizens' groups) as they worked within those constraints to keep alive the flames of democracy during the ‘Berlusconi era’. This perspective is intended to provide an alternative interpretation to what has become the prevailing view of contemporary Italy: an ‘abnormal’ country; the ‘Sick Man of Europe’; worse yet: a country of ‘servants’. The framework of analysis includes the influence of the media-magnate-turned-politician on media legislation and the television sector, but also evaluates the important roles that media professionals and citizens have played to improve pluralism. The article argues that despite extreme levels of media concentration and an unprecedented conflict of interests, a commitment to engage in political discourse has continued to characterise Italy's political culture. This commitment has been expressed by a multiplicity of actors, from journalists and media professionals to citizens' organisations and media activists.

The chapter accurately illustrates Italian media, divided, accordingly to the guidelines provided by European Journalism Centre, in Traditional media (Print Media, Radio, Television, Cinema, Telecommunications) and New Media (Online media, Digital media). A complete overview of each media sector is provided, including a description of their overall trends and of their main actors (editiorial policies are analyzed, updated figures are provided on their readership/audience/number of spectators and revenue/number of unique users per day, as well as on their share in the advertising market). The chapters also includes a Section dedicated to Media organizations, including news agencies and trade unions, and a Section dedicated to National Media Policies, describing Italian media legislation, accountability systems and regulatory authorities. A Section on learning and support is also provided. Finally, in the Conclusions, Italian media development trends are sketched. Sources and literature are provided at the end of each Section.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been the subject of an important development during the last years. Most of the applications deployed over WSNs require strong coverage requirements, especially those related to the detection and tracking of distributed events. In this paper, we use the Voronoi tessellation of the region of interest to formulate and solve an evolutionary optimisation problem modelling the activation of the deployed sensors. The major idea behind our approach is to adapt the spatial sensor distribution to the local probability of target presence. We show, through the results of our experiments, that our method allows a non-uniform deployment of the sensor nodes, which is better suitable for tracking applications.

http://inderscience.metapress.com/content/84373054271wk302/

Durante la campaña electoral del año 2005 en el Reino Unido, el Partido Conservador adoptó la estrategia de describir a Blair como un “mentiroso” acerca de Irak. Algunos críticos consideraron que esto era contraproducente1. Observaron que dañaba electoralmente a los tories y que también implicaba una conducta socialmente inaceptable, puesto que estaría violando los protocolos de la política digna y elegante.