Conference Presentations by Roberto Mincigrucci
Compol, 2021
This article aims to analyze the regional elections in Umbria in October 2019. Our analysis of jo... more This article aims to analyze the regional elections in Umbria in October 2019. Our analysis of journalistic coverage of the main national and regional newspapers shows that these are «second order elections», i.e. elections focused on debates of national interest. Our hypothesis is that some national leaders have used the instrument of rallies to bring to the attention of public opinion (Umbrian but also national) some issues «outside» the region. It was in particular Matteo Salvini who organized an electoral tour that reached a large number of small Umbrian municipalities and attracted the attention of the media. We define it as «glocal media event», i.e. initiatives designed to become highly noticeable and capable of interrupting everyday routine in a strictly local context, exploiting the technologies made available by a hybrid media system. Through his electoral tour Salvini has been able to transform a local election into a referendum on the new government.
Il paper, legato alla partecipazione al WP 6, Media and Corruption, del progetto ANTICORRP – “Ant... more Il paper, legato alla partecipazione al WP 6, Media and Corruption, del progetto ANTICORRP – “Anticorruption Policies Revised. Global Trends and European Responses to the Challenge of Corruption” finanziato nell’ambito del VII Programma Quadro dell’Unione Europea, mira a evidenziare il ruolo giocato dai giornalisti italiani nei casi corruzione. Il presupposto di partenza è che il giornalista sia un attore fondamentale per contrastare la diffusione della corruzione. Molte ricerche mettono in evidenza come un sistema dei media libero ed indipendente sia in grado di ostacolare il protrarsi di fenomeni corruttivi (Brunetti, Weder 2003; Chowdhury 2004; Worthy, McClean 2015). Queste ricerche però danno per scontato che il ruolo del giornalista sia positivo, che svolga sempre la funzione di “guardiano” in grado di indagare e denunciare comportamenti illeciti e fungere da deterrente per il protrarsi di episodi di malaffare. In realtà, il rapporto tra giornalisti e corruzione è molto più complesso e problematico: in alcune situazioni il giornalista svolge effettivamente un ruolo positivo, raccontando o a volte scoprendo uno scandalo, talvolta può capitare però, anche nel nostro paese, che i giornalisti siano coinvolti direttamente in casi di corruzione, risultino parte integrante del network corruttivo, rivestendo quindi un ruolo negativo.
Partendo dall’analisi di alcuni casi studio (Bisignani, Calciopoli, Fini e la villa di Montecarlo, Renato Farina), l’ipotesi che si intende indagare è che l’azione del giornalista nei casi di corruzione è strettamente collegata alle caratteristiche salienti del nostro sistema dell’informazione (parallelismo politico, strumentalizzazione, editoria impura ecc.). La propensione del giornalista a condurre un’inchiesta e scoprire uno scandalo o la sua vulnerabilità ad un comportamento corruttivo sono riconducibili alle particolarità del sistema dei media italiani. L’obiettivo del paper pertanto è quello di proporre quattro tipologie in grado di illustrare il ruolo dei giornalisti di fronte a casi di corruzione. Le prime due tipologie riguardano i ruoli positivi: 1) Enforcer/Initiator, giornalisti che scoprono il caso o ne parlano per primi sui mezzi di informazione; 2) Reporter/Facilitator, i giornalisti che pur non essendo coloro che hanno scoperto il caso decidono di seguirlo e approfondirlo, fornendo dettagli ulteriori e interpretazioni. Dall’altra parte i ruoli negativi: 3) Actively corrupt/ Collaborator, i giornalisti sono parte del network corruttivo, concedendo favori nell’esercizio del proprio mestiere, in cambio di benefici personali; 4) Inactive/Lazy giornalisti che pur non ottenendo vantaggi personali sottostimano l’importanza del caso e decidono di non trattarlo nei propri articoli.
Drafts by Roberto Mincigrucci
This research analyses the journalistic coverage of corruption between 2004 and 2015. Regarding t... more This research analyses the journalistic coverage of corruption between 2004 and 2015. Regarding the relationship between media and corruption, several studies assume that the control exercised by the press could prevent corruptive behaviors. However this is not always the case in Italy. Our data show that the coverage of corruption produced by four Italian newspapers is mainly based on political corruption scandal, reproducing several peculiarity of the so called «penal populism». This means that corruption is represented in a spectacularized and instrumentalized manner, underestimating the real extent of the phenomenon. This is due to the ambivalence between commercialization and political parallelism that characterizes the Italian Media System.
Papers by Roberto Mincigrucci
Journalism practice, Mar 10, 2024
Social Media + Society
Information operations that target public opinion often exploit breaking news, crises, and electi... more Information operations that target public opinion often exploit breaking news, crises, and elections by using coordinated social media actors to disseminate problematic content. These events often reveal the relationships between actors, prompting the creation of lists of malicious actors and news sources. However, relying on outdated lists may underestimate the prevalence and impact of such operations. This article presents a novel workflow to detect, monitor, and update lists of coordinated social media actors during and beyond peak activity periods. Using this approach, known problematic actors are constantly monitored, allowing the detection of new actors and the update of the monitored pool. The workflow was applied to the 2022 Italian snap election, leveraging previous research on coordinated inauthentic behavior during the 2018 and 2019 Italian elections. The initial list of 435 coordinated accounts was monitored, surfacing 1,022 overly shared or commented political posts, 27...
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jan 13, 2023
Comunicazione politica, 2020
Journal for Cultural Research
SSRN Electronic Journal
Despite the widespread global concerns on the potential detrimental effects of misinformation on ... more Despite the widespread global concerns on the potential detrimental effects of misinformation on democracy, the vast majority of studies still focus on Western countries. As a result, we disproportionately know more about wealthy countries characterized by lasting democratic traditions and pluralistic media systems than what we know about contexts where these institutions are yonder and more fragile. This work contributes to filling this gap by applying to the case of India an approach to map and study networks of coordinated social media accounts that spread problematic health-related content on Indian Facebook and Instagram.
International Journal of Strategic Communication
The present study aims to measure the level of populism expressed by the main Italian political l... more The present study aims to measure the level of populism expressed by the main Italian political leaders during the 2018 national electoral campaign, and, consequently, to evaluate which leaders can be considered populist. For this purpose, our units of analysis are the television interviews granted by these leaders, and we will examine them through the pedagogical assessment technique of holistic grading, applied for the first time to the study of populist discourses by Hawkins
Ocula, 2020
According to scholars, today's political leaders face with the "paradox of democratic leadership"... more According to scholars, today's political leaders face with the "paradox of democratic leadership": on the one hand, they have to appear as strong statesmen, in possession of particular skills that gave them the authority to rule the people. On the other hand, they are allowed to rule by the people, and they have to appear similar and intimate with common people. Analyzing the pictures that Salvini publishes on his personal Facebook profile, we try to understand how Matteo Salvini aims to solve the aforementioned paradox. Our main hypothesis is that Salvini implements a strategic use of his "political body", mixing the features of a "super leader" with the ones of an "ordinary person".
European Journal of Communication, 2018
The article provides evidences about mechanisms and practices that undermine the effectiveness of... more The article provides evidences about mechanisms and practices that undermine the effectiveness of investigative journalism through the analysis of selected case studies of corruptive phenomena in Italy, Hungary, Romania and Latvia. In particular, the article shows that the idea of watchdog journalism does not work actually in the observed countries. Indeed, investigative journalism requires certain socio-economic conditions, such as a low degree of influence of the political and economic spheres and a high level of journalistic professionalism, which are not (always) present in the aforementioned countries. More specifically, the article focuses on three aspects that may distort investigative journalists’ work: a certain proximity (sometimes overlapping) of publishers (often rich oligarchs or prominent businessmen) and politicians, the ‘blackmail’ exercised through advertising investments and the interferences of secret services, which may dissuade newsrooms from performing their ro...
Governing Human Lives and Health in Pandemic Times, 2022
Comunicazione Politica, 2021
THE COVERAGE OF COVID-19 IN A POLARIZED MEDIA SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE
OF THE MEDIA IN TIM... more THE COVERAGE OF COVID-19 IN A POLARIZED MEDIA SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE
OF THE MEDIA IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC
During a pandemic, the media play a crucial role. Through their work, they can be valuable allies for those who exercise government roles and must manage a crisis of this magnitude. For example, the use of alarmist frames or highly emotional and dramatized narrative expedients
can fuel a sense of vulnerability in public opinion, thus helping institutions to indirectly enforce and respect strongly stringent and limiting rules for personal freedom but essential to counter the spread of the virus.
The media can also play a «service role» directly, that is provide
practical indications on the rules to follow and the habits to adopt, helping readers to manage the problems and risks of everyday life. The Italian case is an excellent case study to analyze the role of the press during the pandemic, because it represents a clear example of a «polarized pluralist» model of journalism, characterized by high levels of polarization and politicization and where this «service role» of journalism is not commonly exercised. Analyzing the coverage
of the Italian press in two key moments of the spread of the pandemic, this paper aims to outline the role played by the press in the management of the Covid-19 emergency and its contribution to the spread of the policies implemented by the Government to fight the virus.
Understanding and Fighting Corruption in Europe
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Conference Presentations by Roberto Mincigrucci
Partendo dall’analisi di alcuni casi studio (Bisignani, Calciopoli, Fini e la villa di Montecarlo, Renato Farina), l’ipotesi che si intende indagare è che l’azione del giornalista nei casi di corruzione è strettamente collegata alle caratteristiche salienti del nostro sistema dell’informazione (parallelismo politico, strumentalizzazione, editoria impura ecc.). La propensione del giornalista a condurre un’inchiesta e scoprire uno scandalo o la sua vulnerabilità ad un comportamento corruttivo sono riconducibili alle particolarità del sistema dei media italiani. L’obiettivo del paper pertanto è quello di proporre quattro tipologie in grado di illustrare il ruolo dei giornalisti di fronte a casi di corruzione. Le prime due tipologie riguardano i ruoli positivi: 1) Enforcer/Initiator, giornalisti che scoprono il caso o ne parlano per primi sui mezzi di informazione; 2) Reporter/Facilitator, i giornalisti che pur non essendo coloro che hanno scoperto il caso decidono di seguirlo e approfondirlo, fornendo dettagli ulteriori e interpretazioni. Dall’altra parte i ruoli negativi: 3) Actively corrupt/ Collaborator, i giornalisti sono parte del network corruttivo, concedendo favori nell’esercizio del proprio mestiere, in cambio di benefici personali; 4) Inactive/Lazy giornalisti che pur non ottenendo vantaggi personali sottostimano l’importanza del caso e decidono di non trattarlo nei propri articoli.
Drafts by Roberto Mincigrucci
Papers by Roberto Mincigrucci
OF THE MEDIA IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC
During a pandemic, the media play a crucial role. Through their work, they can be valuable allies for those who exercise government roles and must manage a crisis of this magnitude. For example, the use of alarmist frames or highly emotional and dramatized narrative expedients
can fuel a sense of vulnerability in public opinion, thus helping institutions to indirectly enforce and respect strongly stringent and limiting rules for personal freedom but essential to counter the spread of the virus.
The media can also play a «service role» directly, that is provide
practical indications on the rules to follow and the habits to adopt, helping readers to manage the problems and risks of everyday life. The Italian case is an excellent case study to analyze the role of the press during the pandemic, because it represents a clear example of a «polarized pluralist» model of journalism, characterized by high levels of polarization and politicization and where this «service role» of journalism is not commonly exercised. Analyzing the coverage
of the Italian press in two key moments of the spread of the pandemic, this paper aims to outline the role played by the press in the management of the Covid-19 emergency and its contribution to the spread of the policies implemented by the Government to fight the virus.
Partendo dall’analisi di alcuni casi studio (Bisignani, Calciopoli, Fini e la villa di Montecarlo, Renato Farina), l’ipotesi che si intende indagare è che l’azione del giornalista nei casi di corruzione è strettamente collegata alle caratteristiche salienti del nostro sistema dell’informazione (parallelismo politico, strumentalizzazione, editoria impura ecc.). La propensione del giornalista a condurre un’inchiesta e scoprire uno scandalo o la sua vulnerabilità ad un comportamento corruttivo sono riconducibili alle particolarità del sistema dei media italiani. L’obiettivo del paper pertanto è quello di proporre quattro tipologie in grado di illustrare il ruolo dei giornalisti di fronte a casi di corruzione. Le prime due tipologie riguardano i ruoli positivi: 1) Enforcer/Initiator, giornalisti che scoprono il caso o ne parlano per primi sui mezzi di informazione; 2) Reporter/Facilitator, i giornalisti che pur non essendo coloro che hanno scoperto il caso decidono di seguirlo e approfondirlo, fornendo dettagli ulteriori e interpretazioni. Dall’altra parte i ruoli negativi: 3) Actively corrupt/ Collaborator, i giornalisti sono parte del network corruttivo, concedendo favori nell’esercizio del proprio mestiere, in cambio di benefici personali; 4) Inactive/Lazy giornalisti che pur non ottenendo vantaggi personali sottostimano l’importanza del caso e decidono di non trattarlo nei propri articoli.
OF THE MEDIA IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC
During a pandemic, the media play a crucial role. Through their work, they can be valuable allies for those who exercise government roles and must manage a crisis of this magnitude. For example, the use of alarmist frames or highly emotional and dramatized narrative expedients
can fuel a sense of vulnerability in public opinion, thus helping institutions to indirectly enforce and respect strongly stringent and limiting rules for personal freedom but essential to counter the spread of the virus.
The media can also play a «service role» directly, that is provide
practical indications on the rules to follow and the habits to adopt, helping readers to manage the problems and risks of everyday life. The Italian case is an excellent case study to analyze the role of the press during the pandemic, because it represents a clear example of a «polarized pluralist» model of journalism, characterized by high levels of polarization and politicization and where this «service role» of journalism is not commonly exercised. Analyzing the coverage
of the Italian press in two key moments of the spread of the pandemic, this paper aims to outline the role played by the press in the management of the Covid-19 emergency and its contribution to the spread of the policies implemented by the Government to fight the virus.