Paul Rowinski

Euroscepticism in the Berlusconi and Murdoch press

A comparative analysis of Euroscepticism explores what it means in two nations and what is then articulated in specific newspapers. The theoretical terrain, Italy’s and Britain’s post-war relationships with the European Union, the countries’ media structures and the specific context of Il Giornale (owned by Silvio Berlusconi’s family) in Italy and The Times in the United Kingdom (owned by Rupert Murdoch) are mapped out. Some 21 interviews were conducted with relevant journalists and politicians (including reporters covering Europe for the aforementioned) offering further context. A critical discourse analysis of news stories and commentaries then spans the last decade. Although there is some Euroscepticism in Il Giornale, it has historically been localised, yet now seems to be growing in intensity. In The Times, however, the Euroscepticism conveyed is more pervasive and deeper. Its fact-based news can actually be very persuasive – ironically more akin to the commentary-laden news of Il Giornale – as the debate looms ahead of the planned 2017 UK referendum on European Union membership.

British Interviews: Representing and Challenging the National Interest

This chapter unravels the positions of British politicians and journalists engaged with Europe. They challenge how other UK politicians and journalists perceive and write about Europe as a threat to the national interest. The interviews serve to reveal to what extent Euroscepticism has become mainstream in politics, journalism and the wider society. The positioning of UKIP was once peripheral, but is now only a part of a more pervasive Euroscepticism. The interviews will explore the trajectory, from protestation tempered by pragmatism, hence keeping the UK in the tent until the moment withdrawal became realisable. The interviewees (from across the political spectrum) rarely talk about Europe but rather take issue with the UK press’s portrayal of it.

The Architecture for Analysing Interviews and Text

This chapter maps out the methodology and criteria for political communications analyses of interviews, utilising both field and comparative theories, and critical discourse analyses of newspaper texts. The subsequent interviews serve as further evidence, corroborating and sometimes revising and reconfiguring the historical terrain in the preceding chapters. The interviews act as the last layers of context before newspaper analysis. Wodak and Weiss (2004) argue that context is an inherent, significant part of discourse. In investigating complex social problems it is necessary to draw on multiple theoretical approaches to the contexts relating these to texts. The discourse historical approach transcends the purely linguistic dimension, to systematically include the historical, political, sociological and psychological, in interpreting newspaper discourses. The preceding chapters explored this terrain.

Into the Vacuum: Populism, UKIP and the Five Star Movement

This chapter investigates the evolution of more ferocious and muscular Euroscepticisms, in the form of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in Britain and the Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy. These Euroscepticisms may have influenced to varying degrees the wider societies and indeed coloured the debate on Europe-related issues. Subsequent issues that are examined in newspaper discourse analysis include the 2014 European elections and the meteoric rise in popularity of these two movements, as well as the vote for Brexit, with UKIP leading the charge. Analyses will note if the newspapers examined these evolving Euroscepticisms, embraced them or, indeed, maintained a distance. If and how these movements impacted upon the discursive construction of Europe in Il Giornale and The Times will be investigated.

Overarching Academic Themes

The theories help to unravel how and why newspapers have gone about constructing the EU for general consumption. The EU is understood through the prism of nation—and national newspapers. The press (including online versions) are causally significant in persuading national publics over Europe, often feeding national Eurosceptic presuppositions and taking them to new heights. Newspaper discourse is more than just a reflection of national(ist) perspectives over the EU. Instead, at times it is the very basis for the discursive construction of Europe for national publics. To that end the book systematically challenges and unpicks the notion of an impartial British fact-centred press covering Europe, as well as deepening our understanding of how partisan papers in Italy cover the continent.

Communicating Europe? Berlusconi, Murdoch and the Interplay of National Politics and the Press

The interplay between Italian politics and the press—and its British counterpart—offers insights into the terrain which has created the basis for newspapers’ discursive constructions of Europe. A comparing and contrasting of the two cultures offers insights, challenging presuppositions about how politics and the media work in Britain and Italy. In the case of both Murdoch and Berlusconi, their pronouncements on the EU will provide some initial evidence of when they have left their imprint on those newspaper discourses. What is argued in this chapter is the extent to which the particularities of how news is produced, within these two cultures, impacts upon how Europe is conveyed and constructed. The influence of governments, journalists, editors and even owners is apparent.

Newspapers and Their Discursive Construction of Europe

The discursive construction of Europe was manifested in various guises in these newspapers. The book offers a nuanced and detailed unravelling of how this manifests itself—beyond the habitus over the EU in both countries. In Italian journalism commentary-laden news is common. This places in even starker relief how a UK newspaper like The Times employs argumentation and metaphors to convince further already Eurosceptic readers through what is described as impartial and fact-based. This is better described as persuasive news. Other UK newspapers are much worse. The discursive construction of Europe by the two newspapers was also rendered visible when such use of metaphor and argumentation was conspicuous by its absence. Scafuri in Il Giornale and Riddell in The Times bore testimony to this. At various junctures the role of owners in the discursive constructions over arguing against a referendum (euro) or conversely in favour of one (the constitution) was apparent, as here with Murdoch and The Times. Conversely, Berlusconi’s II Giornale offered continuous Europe-related character assassinations of rival Romano Prodi. Some of the invisible has been rendered visible, with these newspapers not challenging prejudices but instead reinforcing and advancing them—selling the public short.

Italian Interviews: Travelling Through the Labyrinth

The Euroscepticism of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the Europhobic, secessionist Northern League is discussed. But now there is a new brand of Italian Euroscepticism, engendered in Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement. The interviews serve to help understand how Eurosceptic Italy, Italian politics and indeed its press have actually become in recent years. Travelling through this labyrinth is key to offering these last layers of context, before the analysis of the language used in Il Giornale later in this book.

The Loneliness of an Anglo-European: A Pathology

Euroscepticism is evolving in the face of the economic downturn and immigration. The UK Independence Party in Britain and the Five Star Movement in Italy are recent beneficiaries. There has been an abrogation of responsibility by EU politicians and civil servants, as well as national politicians and journalists who have failed to convey the EU story—including its shortcomings. The vacuum has been filled by UKIP and the Five Star Movement. The newspapers’ discursive construction of the EU is pivotal in informing the public. Instead they have sold the pubic short. The author reflects on his personal narrative and how it has provided a motivation for research.

The Post-war European Project: A Topography Divorced from Nationhood

Britain and Italy have developed very different post-war trajectories, understanding Europe in divergent ways. Those collective memories resurface in newspaper articles, which often reaffirm a sense of nationhood—while quietly sidelining some Europe-related elements that do not suit the national narrative. That last draft of history, in newspapers, often reaffirms an understanding of the EU that the readership already hears—while other soundings grow muted. The post-war European project has never reconciled fully the competing positions on how to develop. Britain supports inter-governmentalism and co-operation—while Italy, traditionally at least federalist, seeks much closer union. And so competing notions of that Europe vie for attention in newspaper copy.