Start Date: 27/12/1998
End Date: 27/12/1999

Subject of research: Object of my research is to find out the relationship between mass media and ethnic prejudice against gypsy people in Italy. The social importance of the media in modern societies means that their attitude is fundamental for the study of racism. In particular, the treatment given to ethnic minorities can encourage racist attitudes or help to avoid them. It is a secret to nobody that mass media are, to a large extent, responsible for the creation of "states of opinion": the cognitive horizon of most citizens is determined, almost completely, by the content of the media. The treatment that gypsy people receive in the media constitutes one of the greatest obstacles that prevent them from living harmoniously in the majority society. Newspapers, radio and television networks usually base their information on gypsy people on their belonging to artistic or criminal categories. These are superficial conceptions, based on clichés, which are far from spreading a broad and accurate image of gypsies: an image that make it known that they are people with a history, a culture and their own language, different but never inferior. We are all accustomed to read in the newspaper, especially on crime reports, pages about "individuals of gypsy-like appearance" or simply "gypsy". The press echoes the events that have some criminal connection and such a connection, already habitual, ends up creating an association of terms "gypsy-delinquent" that does enormous damage the rights of gypsies. I consider the news as a particular form of discourse: I want to analyse, then, why some events become news and why a topic "deserve" special attention; I want to find out if prejudices or stereotypes are reported or evoked and which interests are considered, whether there is a point of view of the journalist or newspaper about an event and if discriminatory actions are evoked, moderate or condemned.

Methodology
The research is based upon a quantitative and qualitative analysis that take into consideration the news in three Italian newspapers in 1999 (La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, Il Giornale) about gypsy people. My aim is to work on a cataloguing: items are gathered and then elaborate through statistical tools (SPSS). The analysis wants to combine descriptive data, through classic content analysis, and a discursive approach, that pay attention to style, syntax, rhetoric and semantic. My goal is thus to study whether the formation and changing of social cognition depend on the structure and content of news in the press. My main interest is to analyse the role of press mediation in the construction of a collective imaginary through: ð· The choice and division of issues about gypsy people (agenda setting) ð· Their role in the news stories and the prejudices and stereotypes informed ð· The quantification of space granted to different points of view

Name of the Supervisor: Prof. Walter Privitera, Università degli Studi della Calabria

Partners: Dipartimento di Sociologia e Scienza Politica, Università degli Studi della Calabria, Rende (CS), Italy

Funding Organization: Regione Calabria