Italian newspapers and television news reports are paying less attention in their coverage to migration. However, when they do cover the issue, politics tends to take up a great deal of space.

The twelfth edition of an annual report on the Rome Charter code of ethics was entitled Contrasting News, with 'Albania' as the key word this year; the reference is to Italy's agreements with Albania for the transfer of migrants to the other side of the Adriatic Sea. The report was presented on December 18, International Migrants Day, by Pavia Observatory researcher Giuseppe Milazzo at the Foreign Press Club in Rome.

'Regulatory' framework of debate

The Rome Charter Association's outgoing president, Valerio Cataldi, noted that 2024 had been a year in which "people are disappearing" again, while politics is still "front and center."

The front pages of Italian newspapers saw a 42% reduction in space given to migration issues over the past year. In total, the Italian media produced 4,511 headlines on migration (a 34% drop on the previous year). The Catholic-linked daily Avvenire continued to produce the most, with 254 articles on the front page and 870 in total. This amounted to an average of 2.9 per day and a drop of 17% on the previous year.

The coverage of migration-related news on primetime news broadcasts dropped by 41% over the past year. Between 2013 and 2024 there was only a slight correlation between the number of migrants arriving in Italy and the number of headlines on migration in general, suggesting that the media deal with the issue on the basis of reasons not dependent on actual migratory pressures.

Media attention peaked in June – when there were two large disembarcations of migrants and the death of the Indian day laborer Satnam Singh, and between September and October – when the decree regulating migration flows was issued and the agreement with Albania came into effect.

The framework of the migration narrative in 2024 was 'regulatory', with debate that centers on the legitimacy of the decree on migration flows. In the first 10 months of the year, the stigma-laden term 'clandestine' was used 37 times, equal to 1% of the total of those between 2013 and 2024 (1,772). The use of terms that have a derogatory connotation in Italian – such as 'extracomunitario', 'vu cumprà', 'zingaro' and 'nomade' – dropped from 5% in 2014 to 1% between 2022 and 2024, showing progress in journalistic practices.

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Media use alarmist language about migration

At the same time, however, the media continue to portray migration as a 'permanent crisis' and to discuss it in alarmist language. On television, at the thematic level, the top item is 'migration flows', though the percentage is less than the previous year: a drop from 74% to 44.3%.

Even less use was made of the word 'reception', at 2.9%, while the words falling into the categories 'economy and work' (+11.1%) and 'society and culture' (+18.3%) grew in use.

There were statements by at least one political or institutional representative in at least 26% of television news on migration, with the percentages varying widely from one outlet to another. The voices of those directly involved in migration are instead present in only 7% of television news reports.

In general, almost half the news (48%) focused on the negative side of reception in Italy, compared with only 32% focusing on positive aspects.

The president of the Charter of Rome Association, Valerio Cataldi, noted in a videomessage from Mozambique that it is important to "stay as far away as possible from what the political world would like us to say constantly," and to "report to our audiences and readers the human side of those who decide to undertake the journey and put their life at risk to arrive in Italy."

This message was echoed by the president of the Italian Order of Journalists, Carlo Bartoli, who said that while there is "talk of a crisis in the media", the latter "still have an enormous weight in guiding public debate" and "we must continue to feel the responsibility that we have."

The president of the Italian national press union (FNSI), Vittorio Di Trapani, in turn stated that it is important "not to dehumanize," adding that the work done by the Rome Charter Association "simply strengthens" reporting done fairly, and thus "fosters the values of our constitution, as reiterated by the Italian president in recent weeks."

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