Lexington Books The Media and Politics in Contemporary Italy: From Berlusconi to Grillo

Media and Politics in Contemporary Italy is the first book to provide a comprehensive examination of the media system in Italy during the last twenty years. Seeing the rise of new political actors and the growing role of the Internet and social media, the general elections of February 2013 have symbolically closed a twenty-year period of Italian history dominated by Silvio Berlusconi politically and by television as channel of political communication. The analysis focuses on change and continuity with past media structures, cultures and practices, and considers the "Berlusconi factor," namely the impact of one man on the country's media system, journalism, and political communication. Review Alessandro D'Arma's book on the complex interdependent relationship between media and politics in the Italian Second Republic shows an author in total command of his subject matter. D'Arma expertly analyses several key themes in contemporary Italian political communication, from the interventionist excesses of the Berlusconi years to Beppe Grillo's skillful exploitation of social media for electoral purposes. Written in an engaging and lucid style, D'Arma's book is a very welcome addition to the literature on politics and media in leading European nation states.--Raymond Kuhn, Queen Mary University of London This is a comprehensive and concise analysis of the most important developments in Italian media and politics over the last twenty years. D'Arma effectively combines key insights from media research, political science, and historical research to capture both where the Italian situation is truly exceptional and where it is more broadly indicative of the changing relations between old media platforms, new digital technologies, and the deeply rooted political, economic, and cultural factors that shape how they develop. A welcome contribution to our understanding of Italy--and of media and politics more broadly.--Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism This meticulously researched book makes for essential reading on the subject of the relationship between politics and the media in contemporary Italy. Alessandro D'Arma's detailed exploration of media policy and political journalism provides authoritative insight into the politics/media nexus in this fascinating and many ways quite singular country case. This book will be a standard point of reference for scholars of Italian media policy and political communication.--Peter Humphreys, University of Manchester About the Author Alessandro D’Arma is senior lecturer at the University of Westminster.