Defining problems and struggling to find solutions: Framing Roma people in Italian news websites

This article employs a quantitative content analysis of news stories (N=600) to compare how six websites of Italian national newspapers of different political orientations framed Roma people during the campaign for the 2018 Italian general election and in the six months following the formation of the government coalition between the far-right Northern League party and the Five Star Movement. Drawing from framing theory and, in particular, looking at diagnostic and prognostic frames and sources interviewed and quoted, the article shows that when talking about the Roma community, a clear ideological divide between right-wing and progressive newspapers emerged. In a trend that follows the shifting Italian political landscape, news outlets that are historically considered as centrist gave prominence almost exclusively to stories about the removal of Roma camps, evictions and arrests while neglecting the coverage of programmes that would support and help the Roma community.