Mainstream Media Coverage of the Ultra-Right in the U.K. and Italy

The next session at IAMCR 2019 is Cinzia Padovani, who is interested in the intersections between mainstream media and the ultra-right. Mainstream media have at times been accused of being complicit in the rise of the ultra-right, by amplifying their reach and normalising their ideologies and political communication styles; this may be especially pronounced for right-wing mainstream media. But is this perception supported by empirical evidence?

The present study explores the coverage of ultra-right political actors in the mainstream media, and of the topics associated with them, from a cross-country perspective involving the U.K. and Italy. Additionally, it also explores how their opponents (such as antifascist and antiracist organisations) have been covered by the same media.

The study focusses on the progressive Guardian, conservative Telegraph, and right-wing Daily Mail in the U.K. and the establishment Corriere della Sera and centre-liberal La Stampa in Italy, and examines their coverage of the BNP and Forza Nuova from 2009 to 2018, respectively. These two organisations were chosen because of their relative comparability and the close personal ties between their leaders.

Coverage of the BNP in the British press declined from 2009 to 2013, with a further blip in 2014. The Guardian covered the party most prominently (150 articles in ten years), while the Daily Mail paid very little attention to it at any point (only 31 articles), and the Telegraph was somewhere in then middle. Guardian articles were also often featured on the front or home page, and a significant number of opinion pieces also covered the party.

Forza Nuova’s coverage in Italy fluctuated over time, and has grown recently; here, it is interesting that it is described as ‘right-wing’ and sometimes as ‘extreme right’, but never explicitly as ‘fascist’; the Corriere also cites its leaders’ statements extensively, giving them voice. Oppositional groups are described as its ‘antagonists’, which places them in a secondary role and downplays their antifascist orientation.

This shows that mainstream media attention to ultra-right groups varies extensively, and generic assumptions about their role must therefore be revised to become more nuanced and contextualised. Lack of attention does not necessarily mean a lack of support for these actors, either; sometimes silence speaks more than words here. And media attention is important, but it is how these groups are covered and categorised that matters most.