Danilo Aprigliano

The language of propaganda: 'Il Fatto Quotidiano'

Observe the tongue of the press linked to the phenomenon of grillismo, it's a great way to grasp them systems of thought and the methods of propaganda. Let's try to draw some lines starting from ilfattoquotidiano.it.

Analyzing the semantics and the lexicon of titles and articles, we can easily see how they often recur terms such as shame, intrigue, caste, regime, palace (in a metaphorical sense), trap, scam, bribe, profiteering, conspiracy, disinformation, wagging the tail, caiman, truth, scandal, conspiracy, carving up, division, dirt, boomerang, compromise and power ( always in their negative meaning), people, casino, demolish, deluded, illusion, earthquake (in a metaphorical sense), lose, win, misdeed, sensational, party politics, etc.
All terms attributable to the field of opinions and of interpretations and that, therefore, they are difficult to associate with objectivity, to the "facts", to the disinterested and scientific story. Values declared (already from the name) in the presentations and in the words of the founders of the newspaper («A newspaper that tells the facts" – https://www.facebook.com/ilFattoQuotidiano/info).

Dissonance, this, corroborated by the frequent expressions which showdown, he says that... but..., you should… but…, power war, it's a pity that …, operating average, a country where no one…, compromise with power, hold fast, not only... but..., etc.
Formulas that really they can hardly fit into a text with claims of objectivity and impartiality.
In particular, these are terms and expressions whose semantics is of a simplifying type: that is, it tends to cause rapid passages and associations of thought. For example, an expression like «in a country where no one do this and this, the politician X behaved in Y way» automatically makes the thought transition that leads to interpret those actions negatively.

Then there are numerous recurring structures related to semantic associations. We report some indicative cases.
The one of citizens it is a label that is always semantically opposite and in conflict with those of politics and of match. The expression the partiesFurthermore, it is always used to indicate Pd, PDL and center together, as if the others weren't. And it is always associated with elements with a negative meaning (perhaps with laws previously judged as "shameful" or with corruption or illicit financing). The term compromise always has a negative meaning. The word itself should not have any, especially in a democratic regime, where, that is, iCompromise is the soul of representativeness and pluralism.
There are numerous re-enactments, while political or judicial news events are narrated, of the Craxian events or related to the phenomenon known as Tangentopoli. Re-enactments which automatically associate the facts recounted with events fossilized as negative in thecollective imagination and related to corruption is bad politics.
The web, network users and their comments, blogs, ... are, however, always linked to apositive image, reassuring and heroic which seeks to affirm the freedom of the people against the abuses of Caste. The latter is a label often used to designate the political class that is not part of the M5s.

To conclude, in short, it is perfectly identifiable semiotic structure typical of propaganda (but also of advertising) which tends to classify subjects, in a unique and recurring way, as good or bad, in a perennial and inextinguishable one struggle between good and evil in which the enemy is always recognisable, in shapes and spaces, and in which everything negative and problematic always has the same guilty and the enemy himself.

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