TV news: focus on contagions and the Christmas shutdown. Eurispes-CoRiS Sapienza Television News Observatory Report

TV news: focus on contagions and the Christmas shutdown. Eurispes-CoRiS Sapienza Television News Observatory Report

On the menu of the evening news, tightening up on Christmas and ‘Mes, this unknown’. Egypt, break on Regeni, hopes for Zaky

TV News bulletins from November 30th to December 4th – As in previous weeks, prime time news was largely absorbed by the news of the contagion, which dominated 29 openings. In front of the still serious but paradoxically more “encouraging” numbers, it is the measures of the new Dpcm, including dates, times and constraints on travel, that stand out. The “Christmas stranglehold”, which goes hand in hand with the contrasts between the government, regions and oppositions, thus imposes itself on the numbers of the epidemic: 17 openings against the 12 dedicated to Covid’s figures and indices, and even the record number of victims reached on Thursday (993) does not seem to affect the evening editions much, with only Tg La7 pausing to reflect on this tragic “record”. There was a good report on Friday’s Tg3, which focused on the hardships of the elderly population, most affected by the epidemic.

The battle over the MES, with the expected vote on December 9th, occupies the remaining political pages, with the usual distinctions: for the Mediaset Tg on Wednesday, the news of the day is the Grillo fringe, which, on Friday, worsens, while the traditionally pro-government RAI Tg (Tg1 and Tg3) also report the internal rifts within Forza Italia after Berlusconi’s repositioning. Grillo’s intervention against the MES is in the headlines for Tg3, Tg5 and Tg La7. In a framework of growing tensions, there are more interviews, with Di Maio heard both by Tg1 and Tg2 (which also consults Orlando and Gentiloni); on the opposite side, Tg5 picks up on Giorgia Meloni’s appeals, with many audios of Salvini combining the binomial “open ports/closed companies”. Plenty of space, of course, also on Tg4, where, however, a small “short-circuit” takes place on Friday when Piero Sansonetti of Riformista mocks the slogans of the right: «But what about the poor immigrants? Conte does not know how to make decrees, but even the opposition does not know what to say».

Basically, the media “content themselves” with relaunching announcements and policy stances without going into the merits of the proposals (when there are any). To give an example, the politicians bicker about the MES, but neither they nor any service takes the trouble to explain the terms of the divisions over the “bailout fund”, except for a few (quick) exchanges between Tajani and Molinari, guests on Monday’s Tg4. On a different note, Enrico Mentana’s judgement is very harsh. Already on Monday he wonders, in relation to the task force announced by the government for the Recovery fund, if and when the recipes, discussed at the states general of the economy, will concretely enter the political debate this summer.

Middle East, the disengagement of the media. Egypt, hopes for Zaky

With the “refugee issue” bandied about by the opposition, one might have expected some information on the situation in the areas from which dinghies, barges and smugglers depart. This was not the case, except for a headline on Tg4 dedicated, however, to the “domestic” affair of the sailors seized by Haftar. For the rest, there was no mention of Libya or Tunisia, nor were there any reports dedicated to the migratory phenomenon or the dimension of reception at the time of the Covid. Only Tg La7 follows the evolution of tensions between Iran and the international community after the attack in which the head of the nuclear programme died.

The break with the Egyptian public prosecutor’s office, in the investigation into the murder of Giulio Regeni, is also in the headlines for Tg La7 and Tg3, with reports for the RAI newspapers. The same newspapers, between Thursday and Friday, devote attention to the Patrick Zaky case, with the anticipation of the hearing for his release, in the hope of “promising developments” after the many international appeals, including, most recently, that of the American star Scarlett Johansson. There was much more widespread interest in updates on the Suarez case, with headlines for Tg3, Tg1 and Tg5.

Credit to Tg4 for dealing with the “justice theme”, dedicating a headline on Tuesday to the strike of 5,000 honorary judges, talking about the risk of prescription for many proceedings, but also giving voice to the magistrates’ demands. In the search for lightness that characterises the final part of many editions, also to be appreciated is the new Tg2 column that, between Monday and Thursday, offered its audience evocative nocturnal carriage rides through the streets and squares of some Italian cities, linked by their having once been “capitals”.