Evolving Euroscepticisms in the British and Italian press: selling the public short

Abstract

This book argues the discursive construction of the EU in national newspapers is pivotal in creating an environment of Euroscepticism. It will challenge the persuasive, manipulative and prejudicial language, sometimes peddled in the influential UK Murdoch and Italian Berlusconi press. The foci are the key Eurosceptic triggers of the euro; the subsequent national economic crises; and immigration, investigated through major events covered over two decades, including the UK’s recent Brexit vote. The book will explore the national responses to the post-war project; how the EU is understood through the prism of nationhood; and how that has now manifested itself in Euroscepticism in both countries, lastly articulated through interviews with British and Italian politicians and journalists involved. It will include Euroscepticism’s latest chapter. The increasingly key protagonists of the UK Independence Party and Italy’s Five Star Movement, want to take Britain out of the EU and Italy out of the euro – covered in the Murdoch and Berlusconi press.