This paper presents some of the first results of an ongoing research project concerning the communication strategies adopted by Italian politicians and journalists in order to deal with – and manage – the world financial crisis that erupted in 2008. The study focuses on the various kinds of Italian public (Rai) and commercial (Mediaset) television programmes where the topic of crisis was covered from the end of 2008 to the end of 2010. More precisely, the qualitative analysis of the most significant among these programmes is aimed at verifying which expertise have been used in order to inform the public about the causes and the expected development of the crisis, to highlight the consequences of the financial emergency and to control its particularly threatening nature. Special attention will be paid to studying: a) the communication strategies and rhetorical devices used by the government in order to “domesticate” the crisis; b) how journalists mediatised the crisis and covered it in different perspectives; c) which roles the experts played in this process and, in particular, which contribution economists (academic and not) have made.
