Ricerc@Sapienza

This study focuses on ‘Macerata’ news-story (a series of events triggered by the shooting of immigrants), which took place a few weeks before the Italian General election, and disrupted and influenced the public agenda. The article examines the agenda building and framing processes, and their connection with the different actors of the public sphere through a cross-media perspective. Outcomes show how these processes are the result of the competition/cooperation dynamics between traditional and social media. Furthermore, in conjunction with electoral campaign or media events capable of catalyzing public attention (i.e. Macerata), the convergence between the agendas becomes remarkably evident.