1989 – 1998: Italy on the cover (1999)

The research aims to outline the evolution of Italian society during the decade 1989-1999 through the covers of two “historical” generalist weekly magazines: Panorama and l’Espresso. The study offers a series of lines of research on the “approach page” provided to the reader. In particular, the avenues of analysis pursued by Eurispes are the topic, the illustration, the feeling aroused by the title-image combination. The work is divided into three lines of investigation (issues, illustrations, feelings), and is based on a sample of 480 covers, with the help of tables, captions, comments, examples. The work was structured by interweaving quantitative analysis and qualitative examination of the collected material. The first phase involved the drafting of tables that summarised the research results, making them immediately accessible. In the second phase, the figures were interpreted, also using – in reasonable proportions – the example of a single cover.

The research is organised as follows: an introduction followed by a detailed analysis of the two weeklies considered individually, then a face-to-face comparison between the two titles, Panorama and L’Espresso, and then the conclusions, which attempt to consolidate what has previously emerged in a social and broader framework.