ABSTRACT
In recent years, a number of populist parties have experienced renewed political success. In order to understand the reasons behind this success, the electoral communication of populist parties and their media coverage are crucial factors to be considered. This chapter investigates this topic by focusing on the case of the Five Star Movement (FSM), an Italian populist party led by the former comedian Beppe Grillo, which was in its “insurgent phase” during the 2013 Italian electoral campaign. It reconstructs the full image of the FSM conveyed to Italian voters by analyzing both direct communication by the party and its newspaper coverage. The chapter is structured as follows. First, a brief revision of the existing literature on populism and on the relation between media and populism is provided. Second, the case study is presented and the methods applied to conduct the analysis are explained. Finally, three sections discuss the results of the self-directed communication of FSM and its leader Beppe Grillo, its coverage by the Italian newspapers, and the relationship between these two factors.
