News about US and Italian elections...

This week I kept reading the sources of information about the US and the Italian political elections. In particular, I read the news on The New York Times, Le Figaro, Giornale and Il Corriere della Sera.
The Italian elections are drawing near and the debate between Berlusconi and Veltroni is getting even more heated on a number of issues. Some articles say that Berlusconi is still the favourite, but at the same time he has lost credibility even if he continues criticizing the policy of the Left saying that Italy supports him and he will win in April. Furthermore, he adds that if he wins, three-quarters of the ministers will be women. This is particularly interesting if we want to make a comparison between America, where Hillary is one of the nominees of the Presidential elections and Italy: in both countries women are attaining success in politics.
As far as the US elections are concerned, a lot of news says that Obama and Hillary contradict each other in a number of issues and this might risk the unity of their party. Mr Obama is still seen as the presidential candidate most likely to unite the country (60%), followed by McCain (58%). A strange interview reveals that the Democrats might vote for McCain if their candidate isn’t the nominee and this is particularly true if the conservative Republican will be matched to Barack Obama, even if a comment on this news made by a Democrat says that it is a ridiculous reason because a vote for McCain is a vote for a third Bush term. Finally, McCain criticizes the government’s actions to solve the mortage crisis, which are supported by the Democrats, saying that “no assistance should be given to speculators”.

US and Italian elections discussed in three different newspapers: The new York Times, Il Giornale and Le Figaro.

I’ve been following the news about the Italian and the US elections for four days in three different online newspapers: The New York Times, Le Figaro and Il Giornale.
Before analysing the differences and the similarities in the way the news is presented on these three different sources, I find it appropriate to consider what kind of news the three newspapers have published about the elections during these four days.

The New York Times
March 12, 2008
News about US elections
‘AFL-CIO Briefing Book attacks McCain’: The factions which support Hillary and Obama attack McCain policies, arguing that ‘he would take away workers’rights and reduce their standards of living’.
‘McCain returns to New Hampshire’: New Hampshire is the state which launched McCain’s presidential campaigns, but he is aware of the fact that in November it would not be easy to win. This article reports an important statement of McCain which explains his return to this state: ‘I think it’s important for politics in America for the voters to feel that they can be in touch with politicians as well as politicians being in touch with people’.
March 13, 2008
News about US elections
‘Racial issue bubbles up again for Democrats’: Geraldine Ferraro resigns because of her statements against Obama.
‘Unions unveil McCain attack’: Senator McCain is attacked on economic issues.
March 14, 2008
News about US elections
‘Free-spirited wanderer who set Obama’s path’: Obama’s mother is reminded and several aspects of his life are discussed.
‘Obama denounces his Pastor’s statements as ‘inflammatory’: Obama criticizes Mr Wright’s statements about racism and America.
‘McCain’s London fund raiser’: McCain plans a foreign trip which will serve as a promotion of his foreign policy credentials.
‘McCain says he worries about preelections Iraq attacks’: McCain fear terrorist attacks in November which would tip the election against him.

As it can be seen, no news about the Italian elections has been published during these days, probably because of cultural reasons: Americans might focus their attention on themselves and on the countries which are still part of the political problems of USA, such as Iran and Iraq. However, I looked for some articles concerning Berlusconi and I found one whose title is ‘Berlusconi’s long shadow casts a chill over Italian politics’, which dates back to 02/02/2008. It contains a big photo presenting Berlusconi in Naples and tells not only how he is considered in Italy, but also reports some complaints against him presenting a list of his most criticized slogans (‘I’m the Jesus Christ of politics’, ‘I sacrifice myself for anyone’).

Le Figaro
March 12, 2008
News about US elections
‘Barack Obama remporte le Mississippi’: this article talks about Obama’s political success in Mississippi.
News about Italian elections
‘Prodi s’efface de la scène politique’
March 13, 2008
News about US elections
‘Nouveau coup dur pour le camp Clinton’ : this article refers to Geraldine Ferraro statements against Obama.
March 14, 2008
News about US elections
‘Les cinq erreurs d’Hillary’: this article refers to the bad strategies adopted by Hillary in her campaign.

Since my group (group 1) analyses the candidates on the right, I was curious to know what kind of news has been published about McCain. I found one article dating back to 03/06/2008, whose title is ‘McCain ne resisterait ni à Obama, ni à Clinton’. What is interesting in this article are the two reasons, which, according to ABC News, would cause the failure of McCain: Bush’s support and his age.
This newspaper presents a dossier which is completely dedicated to the US elections; therefore it is easier to find news about this topic than on the other newspapers’ websites. Furthermore, it doesn’t omit the news about Italian politics, probably because France is an European country and thus more involved in Italian political problems.

Il Giornale
March 12, 2008
News about US elections
‘USA, in Mississippi Obama straripante’: this article talks about Obama’s success in Mississippi’.
News about Italian elections
‘Berlusconi: antifascista la nostra identità politica, ecco i candidati del PDL’: Berlusconi presents the candidates of his party and some aspects of his political platform.
March 13, 2008
News about Italian elections
‘Berlusconi: vittoria impossibile per il PD. Politiche, ecco tutti i candidati del PDL’: Berlusconi continues to attack his rivals and presents all the candidates of his party.
‘Pil, Berlusconi: “eredità difficile”: Berlusconi tells that the economic growth will be difficult considering the heritage of the previous government.
‘Berlusconi: convinceremo gli indecisi’: Berlusconi expresses his firm belief to win.
News about US elections
‘USA, razzismo nelle urne. Tra i democratici è rissa’: this article is about Geraldine Ferraro’s statements against Obama.
‘Ipotesi Romney per McCain’: Mitt Romney is said to be the candidate for the president’s assistant.
March 15, 2008
News about Italian elections
‘Libano, il Cavaliere: “Nuove regole di ingaggio': this article is about the disputes of the PDL with PD on the military forces in the Middle East.

As it can be seen from the large number of news about Berlusconi and PDL at first page, Il Giornale is clearly a partial newspaper. Furthermore, there are many big photos of Berlusconi, all of them portraying him with a triumphant smile. It is interesting to note that this Italian newspaper, unlike The New York Times, doesn’t ignore news about US politics probably because of cultural reasons: Italy might be more interested in other countries' issues.

Since all the three newspapers contain the same news about Geraldine A. Ferraro’s resignation, I find it interesting to analyse the way it is presented by il Giornale, The New York Times and Le Figaro.
All the three articles are at front page and have a big image showing Obama (Il Giornale, The New York Times) and Geraldine Ferraro (Le Figaro). Il Giornale and Le Figaro’s article are the same length, whereas the one on The New York Times is longer. Furthermore, both The New York Times and Le Figaro have a subtitle: Clinton, Obama have each used race, sex against the other; Après avoir pronouncé des propos controversies sur la couleur d’Obama, Geraldine Ferraro a demissionné de ses functions de chargée des finances de la campagne. Hillary Clinton s’est confondue en excuses. As far as the content is concerned, the three newspapers present the same news both with differences and similarities. All the three report what Geraldine Ferraro said about Obama more or less with the same words (“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position”). If we analyse the differences, we will notice that Il Giornale adds that blacks don’t allow any comment regarding race, even if racial segregation finished many years ago, Le Figaro, after the central news, reminds a similar event happened to Jesse Jackson in 1988 and finally The New York Times’ article contains two final paragraphs: “unavoidable subtexts” and “using sex, race against each other”. To conclude, the words used are almost always formal in all the articles.

Political elections in the United States and in Italy: McCain and PDL

I don’t know a lot about politics and I don’t follow it regularly, but I liked watching McCain and Berlusconi presenting their political platforms to the audience because I could perceive the differences and the similarities between the two candidates living in different countries.

Listening to them, I discovered many words and expressions which clearly show not only what are their main objectives, but also reveal something about their personality and their strategies adopted to success.

The words used clearly reveal what are the platforms of the politicians. Berlusconi insists on reinforcing national security, helping families, creating growth and increasing job applications. In particular, in order to help families he promises to reduce taxation and to give a bonus for every new baby and to hinder illegal immigrants he wants to earmark funds for the police force. Finally, he supports a Christian society which believes in the family founded by the love between a man and a woman. As far as McCain is concerned, he believes that the best way to encourage economic growth is to cut government spending sharply enough to reduce the budget deficit while lowering taxes at the same time. As regards illegal immigrants and homosexuals, he appears more tolerant than Berlusconi because he supports a temporary program to professionally help the formers and although he contrasts marriages, he encourages civil unions between the letters. What is really common in his speeches is the war against terrorism, which the United States and its allies must win in order to create a peaceful world.
Some expressions used by the two politicians can help us understanding how they behave to be very successful. One of the main strengths of Berlusconi’s political success is his strong dislike for the Left, as it can be seen by the catch phrase of his party (“La sinistra ha messo in ginocchio l’Italia e noi diciamo rialzati Italia”) and by the constant reference he makes to the negative policy of the previous government. He presents his policy involving the audience by often using the first person plural (“We are here because we want…”, “We all want to…”, “We all believe in the same values”) and kind words, which at the same time remind his program (“Thank you all”, “A big and tender embrace to all the Italians who love freedom”). On the other hand, McCain seems to be less self-confident than Berlusconi because he doesn’t hide his limits, for example when he speaks about the war against terrorism (“I do believe we can succeed, not we succeed”) or when he makes some deprecating comments about his background (“The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should”). Furthermore, unlike Berlusconi, he gives the audience leave to speak and he answers to questions.
As I have written, there are many differences between Berlusconi and McCain. The United States and Italy adopt a different electoral system and perhaps this can influence the way the two politicians interact with the audience. Moreover, if we analyse their lives, we will notice that McCain had been prisoner of war whereas Berlusconi entrepreneur; two different pasts which probably have affected their policy and their attitudes.