93545 - Communication Laboratory (Lm) (G.B)

Learning outcomes

The laboratory aims to provide students with skills in the field of journalistic and media content production (television, radio, and online media).

At the end of the course, students will: 1) master the principal techniques for producing journalistic and media content; 2) be able to independently create informational content in written, oral, and multimedia formats.

Course contents

The laboratory, entitled “Election Campaigns in Italy,” aims to provide students with both theoretical and practical skills in the field of electoral communication, with particular reference to the Italian context.

At the end of the laboratory, students will: 1) have an in-depth understanding of how electoral campaigning in Italy has evolved over time; 2) master the principal techniques of electoral persuasion, with particular attention to the communicative and media contexts in which they are implemented.

The laboratory (consisting of ten three-hour sessions), dedicated to the study of “Election Campaigns in Italy,” is divided into three parts. The first part (6 hours: Week 1), conducted through the traditional lecture format (albeit enriched by continuous student participation in discussing the proposed topics), consists of two introductory classes devoted to a general overview of the political system of Republican Italy and the main theoretical and analytical tools of political and electoral communication. The second part (18 hours: Weeks 2–4) is characterized by a more seminar-oriented and, above all, practical approach. Each week is divided into two sessions. The first session includes a brief theoretical and analytical introduction to the historical period under examination (specifically: 1946–1974; 1975–2005; 2005–2022), followed by student presentations based on previously assigned readings and focusing on the same period under discussion. The second session consists of group exercises carried out in class, during which students will engage in the creation of electoral speeches and campaign advertisements, as well as self-nomination videos and political memes. Finally, the third part (6 hours: Week 5) includes two additional group exercises conducted in class. Students are required to collect empirical data (Session 9), which they will subsequently analyze and present to the class (Session 10), concerning the social media communication of a number of Italian political leaders, examined from a comparative perspective over a specific period of time.

Readings and Presentations

The readings complement the material presented by the instructor during the introductory lecture component. Each student is required to present the assigned reading in no more than ten minutes, leaving ample time for discussion (ideally, the laboratory should not exceed six students).

In-Class Exercises

Students will work in the same groups that will later conduct the final analysis of Italian political leaders’ social media communication.

1. Electoral Speeches
   Each group (ideally composed of three students) is required to write and deliver a campaign speech of at least five minutes, impersonating a national politician from one of the parties of the First Republic (DC, PCI, PSI, PSDI, PRI, PLI, MSI).
2. Campaign Advertisements
   Each group (ideally composed of three students) is required to design a campaign advertisement of approximately two minutes, impersonating a national politician from one of the parties of the Second Republic (Forza Italia, Lega, Alleanza Nazionale, Democratici di Sinistra, Margherita, Italia dei Valori, Rifondazione Comunista).

3. Self-Nomination Videos and Memes
   Each group (ideally composed of three students) is required to produce a self-nomination video for party primary elections, lasting approximately three minutes, impersonating a candidate from Fratelli d’Italia, the Five Star Movement (M5S), Lega, the Democratic Party (PD), or Forza Italia.

   Alternatively, each group may create one political meme (optionally using artificial intelligence tools) for each of the aforementioned parties, on a topic of their choice.

Final Group Project

The same groups that completed the exercises described above are also required to analyze the social media communication of one of the following nine Italian political leaders: Giorgia Meloni; Elly Schlein; Giuseppe Conte; Antonio Tajani; Matteo Salvini; Angelo Bonelli; Nicola Fratoianni; Carlo Calenda; Matteo Renzi.

Specifically, students will:

1. Code Facebook posts published during two randomly selected weeks in 2025 and compare them with posts published during the final two weeks before the 2024 European Parliament elections (in order to assess whether and to what extent the permanent campaign hypothesis holds);
2. Analyze the following dimensions:
   a) popularized vs. non-popularized posts;
   b) political issues addressed in non-popularized posts;
   c) forms of popularization used in popularized posts;
   d) tone of the post (positive, negative, neutral);
   e) possible targets of negative campaigning.

Readings/Bibliography

Novelli E. (2018), Le campagne elettorali in Italia. Protagonisti, strumenti, teorie; Roma-Bari: Laterza (all chapters).

Teaching methods

The laboratory employs a variety of teaching methods: from the traditional lecture format (Part I), to more seminar-based and practical approaches, with a particular emphasis on group work and in-class exercises (Parts II and III). In addition, classroom discussions will also involve the viewing and analysis of a substantial number of electoral television advertisements, as well as posters, speeches, debates, and social media content produced by leading Italian political figures throughout the Republican era.

Assessment methods

Students will obtain a pass grade upon:

• attending at least seven of the ten scheduled sessions;
• presenting an assigned supplementary reading to the class;
• completing and presenting the group project required for the final exercises.

Given that only three absences are permitted overall, attendance at Sessions 9 and 10 is mandatory.

Teaching tools

Classes will be supported by PowerPoint presentations, as well as by the viewing and analysis of electoral advertisements, posters, speeches, and debates.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Pritoni