Femicide in Italy. The fear told trough media and online conversations.

In recent years Italians media have increasingly devoted more space to the topic of femicide, due to the rising numbers of women killed by husbands or ex partners after years of abuse and persecution. The path that led toward public involvement has gone through the policies and forms of media narrative, which have shifted over time attention from the fact (the murder) to the causes that led to the murder (non acceptance of the end of a love relationship, surveillance techniques implemented by the murderous partner, fear to report harassment) to describe the dynamics of what is called the concept of “continuum of violence”. The opposition fear / courage appears central today in the media narratives dedicated to femicide in the news and on several TV series used as case studies (Amore criminale, Polizia femminile singolare, Donne: il volto della violenza – broadcasted by Sky). Key question of analysis is how much the media have contributed to a social discourse on femicide in Italy? Is it possible to affirm that their work is helping certain groups of women to talk about their fears? Our survey is based on content analysis of a sample group of 6 national newspapers, and 20 online discussions present in specific social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, observed with tools provided in Nvivo software. The goal of the survey is to compare the narrative modes used by the mainstream media with those used by the Social Network platforms, to understand the ways in which this theme shapes and to what other fears solicited by the media is connected.