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MEDIA COMMUNICATION AND CRIMINALITY Single discipline educational activity
Course Sheet Academic Year of enrolment:
Disciplinary Sector:
SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION
Professor and Collaborators:
Hours of classroom activity:
Objectives
Contents Title of the course:
Communication of risk:
cross-mediality and academic space
The course focuses on the strategies of media narration regarding daily reality and some criminal phenomena exacerbated by mainstream information. The course outlines theoretical section pivoted on the media logic theory developed by Altheide and Snow in 1979. Meanwhile, the course copes with the sociology of risk through the work of Beck. Both sociological approaches are functional to the study of the representation of crime as a form of info-tainment, especially in the era of cross-mediality (Mazzoli). This analysis also deals with some specific sharing spaces once considered safe, as in the case of educational environments, wrongly considered devoid of criminal events. Hence the chance to further investigate the gist of academic space as risky environment, especially connected to international mobility and the uncertainties that research activities conducted abroad can generate.
Extended Syllabus The media connotation of crime has undergone relevant shifts in the last years, in conjunction with the evolution of journalism and the advent of the internet. This is what Altheide and Snow foresaw in Media Logic (1979). They introduced one of the most successful theoretical insights in the field of communication research as a mix of technology, entertainment, journalism and information. The logic and power of media turn into social culture, molded by the narration (also criminal) of risk marking daily life. This is an aspect emphasized by Beck in the posthumous volume called The Metamorphosis of the World (2016), about the digital risks and the social failure of institutions. In this account, he highlights the effects of globalization in reference to the construction of symbolic universes both frantic and fleeting, and corroded by the permanent narration of violence. Hence follows the introduction of innovative gist as “new landscapes of communication” and “digital construction of the world”, also inspired by the metaphors of images conceived as “bullets” and cameras seen as “weapons”. The transformation of violence into a symbolic medium of insecurity is as effective as the consumption of information can supply a transient but instinctual illusion of collective sharing. The metamorphosis of the digital world is fostered by the dialectic between mainstream and social media as they present a picture which is often complimentary of crime and its emotional implications. These facts can be confirmed by the survey of main national talk shows, in which the use of social networks is functional to the empowerment of informative strategies usually aimed to probe the causes of criminal events. The new informative tendencies suspended between mainstream and new media, more and more responsible of the narrative construction of daily life. As a matter of facts, the deaths of Giulio Regeni and Valeria Solesin had a great impact on media: their assassination had not only informative implications, but also emotional and political effects on the public opinion, also considering the fact that jobs or places once considered as safe tend to be less and less welcoming these days. The decision to carry out research and doctorates abroad conveys a sociological and journalistic reflection on the real perception of risks linked to the attendance of places once considered devoid of risks, as churches, schools and universities. More specifically, the academic environment conceived as a place of uncertainty provide interesting research insights both on the media frame of fear and the globalization of international mobility, in the age of 2.0 terrorism and cosmopolitism.
Recommended Bibliography D. L. Altheide, R. Snow, Media Logic. La logica dei media, a cura di R. Marini, Armando, Roma 2018
U. Beck, The Metamorphosis of the World, Polity Press, London
L. Mazzoli, Cross-News. L’informazione dai talk show ai social media, Codice edizioni, Torino 2013
A. Lombardinilo, Università del rischio e mobilità accademica: la drammatizzazione mediale della violenza, in «Rivista trimestrale di scienza dell’amministrazione», 1/2018, pp. 1-29 (www.rtsa.eu )
Methods of Provision
Teaching Methods The class will be taught with the help of didactic supports and research material (both paper and digital) presented and provided during the lessons
Evaluation methods Verification of learning:
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