Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

editions for the provinces of Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo,
and Tuscany. 14 Il Messaggero ranks fourth for readership
in Italy and claims to “give a voice to a remarkable
group of regions, provinces and municipalities in the
heart of Italy.” 15 It is noted for its national politics and
local news pages, which feature reports on municipal
politics, sport, and cultural events. 16 Throughout its 140year
history, Il Messagero has been bought and sold
many times. Today, it is owned by one of Italy's main industrial
groups, Caltagirone. 17
FINDINGS:
Several hundred articles were consulted from the three
aforementioned media sources. The keywords “Italy and
the EU”, “the Schengen Treaty”, “Lampedusa”, “Italian
economic crisis”, “Eurozone crisis”, and “Italian pension
reform” were used to conduct the search. Of the articles
consulted, a rough tally was kept of the frequency that
certain issues appeared both monthly and annually.
From the results, the following four issues were the most
prominent in 2011.
The Arab Spring and the Schengen Treaty
- The Arab Spring in early 2011 led to a drastic increase
in the number of North African refugees seeking asylum
in the EU. Italy, and in particular the small island of
Lampedusa, became the landing ground for thousands
of Libyan refugees in the midst of the Libyan civil
war. 18 This posed significant logistical and ethical problems
for the Italian government, as it was forced to
provide accommodation for many of these immigrants
until their future could be decided.
- Prime Minister Berlusconi emphasized that illegal
North African migration was a “European problem” and
not an exclusively Italian one. 19 It was noted that many
migrants used Italy as a landing zone to gain access to
the EU before heading to France or Germany where
their relatives resided. 20 Due to the fact that the vast
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