La campagna elettorale inglese e italiana in prima pagina

Abstract – This paper examines the front pages of four printed newspapers (The Guardian, The Times, Corriere della Sera and la Repubblica) on the first day of the general election campaign in 2005 in the UK (4th April) and the Italian campaign in 2006 (11th February). The aim is to show first of all how the positioning of elements (i.e. pictures, cartoons, headlines, articles and even advertisements), on the left and on the right of the page, or in the upper or lower sections is not at random and in fact conveys specific information. Secondly, it will also illustrate how words, images and colours on the same page bond with each other by means of a common theme or “topic of the day” suggested by the newspaper itself. The second part of this work, instead, focuses on the language of the headlines (and their articles) adopted on the front pages of the four dailies during both the 2005 and 2006 election campaigns in the UK and in Italy respectively and how they are designed to affect and influence their readers, who are, after all, prospective voters.Keywords: newspapers, front page, headlines, topic, election campaign.