Editions in the trenches, two-thirds absorbed by Covid “facts”. Eurispes-CoRiS Sapienza Television News Observatory

Editions in the trenches, two-thirds absorbed by Covid “facts”. Eurispes-CoRiS Sapienza Television News Observatory

Disagreements over the handling of the pandemic emerge in prime time. Pope Francis “balances” civil unions: homosexuals have the right to a family

The news from October 19 to 23 – Faced with the vertiginous increase in the number of contagions, which is touching new records day by day, prime time information returns “to the trenches” and once again presents the characteristics that had distinguished it during the months of the lockdown. In editions absorbed two-thirds of the time by Covid’s “facts”, party politics is left aside in favour of a focus on the activities in the regions, while the interventions of those doctors, virologists and scientists (Crisanti, Brusaferro, Zangrillo, Locatelli and others) who were the protagonists of the spring editions become more frequent. Mentana, on Wednesday, summed up the situation, speaking of a “war bulletin”, which will require a great deal of professionalism by the media in order to manage the anguish of the citizens and to recount in the most appropriate way a very hard phase that is expected to be very long. Similar assessments also come from the Director of Corriere Luciano Fontana, interviewed by Tg5.

Compared to last week, there is an increase in direct criticism of government action, especially on the Mediaset news. Tg4 devotes several headlines to the protests of restaurant owners and other professions against the lockdown measures, voicing their appeals and denouncing Conte’s “wait-and-see attitude”. Some of these judgments are, however, toned down or dismissed by the commentators in the studio, as happened on Wednesday when Prof. Zangrillo instead praised the PM’s words, deeming them “responsible and motivating”. Tg La7 also reported on Thursday the criticism levelled at the Prime Minister for the first time by the Pd with Graziano Delrio, to which was added on Friday the statements by Nicola Zingaretti, who urged Conte to «stop navigating by sight». More space was given to the interventions of the oppositions on Tg2 and Tg4.

Tg La7 and Tg4 also stand out for the attention devoted to their own specific areas of interest, with Mentana’s Tg on Tuesday headlining the 5 Star Movement’s eagerly awaited general states, to which the majority is postponing a final decision on the Mes. Ahead of the municipal elections in Rome, Tg4 is already taking the field and on Thursday is producing a highly critical report on the failings of the mayor Raggi, to relaunch the candidature of Guido Bertolaso, supported both by Berlusconi and (perhaps) Salvini, as mayor of the capital.

Apprehension of contagions in Europe. Trump vs Biden, “civil” confrontation. The “veggie burger” triumphs over the truce in Libya

The chilling growth of contagions in EU countries dominates the foreign pages, with numerous headlines and reports. The long-awaited, final confrontation between Trump and Biden also features in 8 headlines, resulting in a confrontation without winners, and appreciated only for the absence of turpitude between the two candidates. On Friday, the turning point for the crisis in Libya, which saw the conflicting parties sign a permanent ‘ceasefire’ in Geneva: it is in the headlines for Studio Aperto and Tg La7, but only the latter illustrates the affair concretely. Paradoxically, on Rai news, more space is given to the rescue in Brussels of the “veggie burger”, i.e. the right of vegetarian products to be called by the same terms as meat products: headlines for Studio Aperto and Tg1. Tg3 continues to keep the focus on the Patrick Zaki case.

Absorbed by the narration of the epidemic, the chronicle almost disappears from the headlines and services, and during the week it gathered just 9 headlines out of more than 200. Also absent from the lineup was any mention of the migratory phenomenon, despite the significant arrivals in recent days.

The big breakthrough of Pope Francis, who in one of his interviews further opened up to civil unions for homosexuals, is in the headlines for everyone on Wednesday (opening of Studio Aperto). Good coverage by Tg3, Tg2 and Tg5, which also returns on Thursday.