Mapping intercultural digital platforms

The first research question is to provide an overview of the principle characteristics of Italy’s intercultural digital media, a media form encompassing a wide array of digital media platforms with a common set of distinguishing features as outlined in the previous chapter (section 3.4.). A mapping exercise enables me, firstly, to understand and establish the boundaries of the ‘population’ (in sampling terms) of intercultural digital media as a distinct media form. It also presents a systematic and comparative picture of these media from which commonalities and patterns across the platforms can be observed and discussed. Secondly, the mapping facilitates identification of common characteristics across the websites to be analysed in greater detail and in a comparative fashion in subsequent chapters. Therefore, it also facilitates the sampling of five websites which will represent the smaller sample for examining content features in greater detail and through a more in-depth analytical approach.

The mapping of intercultural sites draws on tools for collecting and analysing largely descriptive data of a specific media form or genre, particularly within the realm of

‘alternative’ media outlets. Media academic Myra Georgiou published a series of reports mapping diasporic media across European countries (2003; 2005a; 2008). In her studies, Georgiou examines and maps ‘minority media’ set up by diasporic communities across Europe or in specific countries by collecting and coding largely descriptive data concerning location, type of platform, and community served. In introducing her methodology, Georgiou explains that mapping as ‘is a necessary starting point, especially in this area where there is a lack of data’ (2003: 23). Similarly,

84 Maneri & Meli (2007) as discussed in Chapter 3 offer a systematic mapping of existing

‘multicultural media’ in Italy (see section 3.3.1.) in order to ‘analyse the size, the growth and the boundaries of this media sector’ (ibid: 20).

Therefore, the mapping of intercultural digital media presented in Chapter 5 is broadly influenced by mapping methodologies aimed at providing a comprehensive description of the key characteristics of a certain media landscape that has not hitherto been investigated in the literature. However, the mapping exercises of Georgiou (2003; 2005a; 2008) and Maneri & Meli (2007) tend to remain confined within the principal scope of numerically quantifying ‘ethnic minority’ or ‘diasporic’ media.

These studies have limited focussed in-depth examination of both content features and production experiences of the considered media outlets. Hence the present study seeks to critically explore the media form at the centre of the investigation in greater detail and in relation to different aspects such as context, content, and production.

4.2.1 Constructing the mapping: selection criteria, process, and tools

Constructing an operational definition was both preparatory and instrumental to undertaking a mapping of intercultural digital media. Since the start of this work, I have recorded descriptive data and information corresponding to each individual website falling under the operational definition of ‘intercultural digital media’, which I define as: media outlets published online in Italian whose content is produced by culturally diverse teams of contributors, largely residents or citizens of immigrant background with a principal or significant focus on matters relating to immigration and cultural diversity.

Based on the above operational definition, the criteria for identifying the population of websites are the following:

(1) Platform: digital/online

(2) Contributors: collective teams of contributors of diverse cultural background resident in Italy, largely including residents and citizens of immigrant background as well as citizens of single Italian heritage.

(3) Significant focus: matters relating to immigration and cultural diversity (4) Primary language: Italian

(5) Audience: Italian-speaking resident population (of immigrant background and non).

85 Since October 2011 I have been collecting data and information relating to those media outlets that fell under the operational definition of intercultural digital media and the five above criteria and a total of 35 websites were identified. The scope of the mapping aims to be exhaustive as it seeks to identify all existing sites whether currently active as of January 2017 or not. As for exclusion criteria, those initiatives that did not meet the above criteria were excluded from the mapping as they would have not been sufficiently relevant to the scope of this study. For instance, blogs or sites ran by a single author were not included since the present work is primarily interested in the collective representations of and practice of intercultural politics as a collective endeavour. Similarly, sites with newsrooms including contributors of immigrant background, yet offering generic information without manifesting the expression of a cultural politics concerned with matters of immigration and cultural diversity, were not included. Whilst I recognise that these initiatives might have research value, the operational definition of intercultural media needed to be observed to include only the platforms comprising this media form. This scope ensured that a comparative analysis of all the platforms was possible.

To identify digital platforms to include in the mapping, the website media &

multiculturalità (www.mmc2000.net)⁴⁰ has been a crucial tool. The website hosted an electronic database listing media initiatives with a focus on ‘multiculturalism’ / cultural diversity that has emerged in Italy over the years and classified by format (print / radio /TV / Internet). Yet, the database did not distinguish platforms produced by culturally diverse teams of contributors, individual or collective initiatives. After 2013, when the site was closed down due to lack of funding, I continued to search the Internet for existing initiatives falling under the operational definition of intercultural digital media. More specifically, I performed relevant keyword searches on Google Italy (using keywords such as ‘notizie’ OR ‘news’ OR ‘storie’, AND ‘intercultura*’

OR ‘multicultura*’, OR immigra* OR ‘nuovi italiani’, OR ‘nuovi cittadini’ OR

40 Media & Multiculturalità (www.mmc2000.net) was a website founded in 2000 as a multi-cultural online radio with broadcasts in 5 different European countries. However, over the years it expanded and evolved, arriving to include new sections including a database of media initiatives concerned with immigration and cultural diversity. The website was sponsored by and affiliated to COSPE (Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries) an Italian non-profit association active with projects of international cooperation as well as with initiatives in Italy and in Europe promoting ‘intercultural dialogue’ and an overall positive view on cultural diversity.

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‘seconde generazioni’; OR ‘riforma cittadinanza’). A few further initiatives were identified from cross-references on other platforms.

Some of the websites included in the mapping were no longer active at the inception of the research or had been closed down during the course of it. However, the Internet Archive website (https://archive.org/), a non-profit digital library project that preserves webpages for the historical record, provided me free access to those websites no longer directly accessible.

4.2.1.1 Coded categories

For each website, descriptive data were collected in relation to the following fields:

1. Name 2. Web address 3. Self-definition 4. Launch date 5. Location 6. Editor-in-chief 7. Themes

8. Funding strategies 9. Ownership/affiliation

10. Termination date/current status

The descriptive data corresponding to the fields (1) to (6) and (10) were obtained largely through retrieving the relevant information published on the website.

Information concerning funding strategies was gathered both through website information but also complemented by interviews with the editors of some of the websites (see section 4.4.). As for coding the themes (7), the following coding process was undertaken. A total of eight different common recurring themes (or topic categories) were identified across the 35 identified websites by coding the principal topic categories for each website. The coding was conducted by considering the topic categories in the menu bars of the websites. In those instances where the articles or posts published under those categories did not fully reflect the description of the category in the menu bars, a judgement was made on what category would best describe the content of that particular section. For instance, if the section Società, largely hosts stories talking about experiences of ‘integration’ of residents of immigrant background in Italy, the category ‘Integration’ was chosen (rather than

‘Society’).

87 Coding descriptive data relating to the websites’ information enables me to draw a systematic picture of intercultural sites that have emerged online in Italy since their first appearances. Despite the search for the platforms aimed to be exhaustive, realistically a few initiatives might have slipped the researcher’s net. The mapping also enables a longitudinal overview of initiatives classified as intercultural media. This facilitates identification of significant common characteristics to be examined in greater detail in a comparative way across a smaller sample of websites. The mapping is therefore both instrumental and preparatory to exploring the content dimension of intercultural digital media as discussed in the following section.

4.3 Analysing digital media texts: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis