What are the themes that have worried European citizens most throughout 2015? How were they represented by the newscasts of the main TV channels? The answers can be found in the IX Report on social security and insecurity in Europe and in Italy, promoted by Fondazione Unipolis, Demos&Pi and Osservatorio di Pavia.

The perceived insecurity has been analyzed through opinion surveys in the five major European countries (Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain), and the TV newscasts of these countries have been considered for the analysis of the media representations of the themes related to security.

On perceptions, Europe seems to be divided according to a very specific geography: economy and politics worry more those countries bordering the Mediterranean, immigration and terrorism prevail in North European countries. Unemployment is a top priority for 65.8% of Spanish people, 57% of Italians and 47.9% of French. In France there’s also a significant percentage of people identifying terrorism as an emergency (40.7%), likewise in Great Britain (34%) and on a smaller scale in Germany (20.9%), where immigration is the primary concern (49.4%).

The framework of media representations appears to be rather uniform: all European newscasts, each one with different content and percentage, throughout 2015 have been focusing the attention on the global challenges and threats, rather than on internal insecurities.