La grande narrazione. Migrazioni interne in Italia nel racconto dei media.

This article analyses how the media narrated the great internal migration in Italy, an epochal phenomenon that involved millions of people between the 1950s and 1970s. Media narration contributed to creating a collective memory that influenced the perception of the phenomenon. Movies, television investigations, newspaper articles and photojournalistic reports, often portrayed immigrants as poor and backward, consolidating prejudices and stereotypes. Iconic images, such as that of the immigrant with the “cardboard suitcase”, have become powerful symbols evoking a simplified view of the migration phenomenon. These representations have often ignored the complexity and diversity of migration experiences, focusing mainly on transfers from Southern to Northern Italy. Moreover, the media have emphasised the more problematic aspects of immigration, such as poverty and crime, thus creating a negative image of immigrants.