THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT IN THE ITALIAN PRESS - A MEDIA STORY-LINE

This paper proposes the concept of 'a media story-line' as a useful an alytical tool for the study of media discourse. The Italian press cove rage of the explosion at the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl in April 198 6 is chosen as a suitable case study. A sample of 75 newspaper article s published during 1987-1991 in the Italian daily press is analysed in terms of issues and framing packages. A 'media story' told in the new spapers about the accident and its consequences is reconstructed withi n each year-sample separately. A 'media story-line' is thus traced and the transformation of the event of the accident to a social metaphor is examined.