THE IMAGE OF THE ‘EURO’ IN THE MEDIA. A CONTENT ANALYSIS

Authors

  • Ana – Maria GIURGI

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47743/asas-2024-2-770

Keywords:

euro, public perception, content analysis, sentiment analysis, text mining

Abstract

The study analyses the image of the euro in the press and public perceptions through a content analysis of media articles. The objective of this scholarly inquiry is to ascertain dominant narratives and themes in order to understand how economic and political events influence attitudes towards the euro and contribute to confidence in the euro. The methodology uses content analysis applied on Italian and European press articles, processed with R packages for sentiment analysis and visualization of the most frequent terms. The study focuses on articles addressing the opinions of the public in the euro area, with a focus on Italy, where euro scepticism is more pronounced. The results highlight both positive and negative sides about the euro, with variations in tone related to economic crises, political dynamics and confidence in fiscal policies. The implications of the research are relevant for policy makers and the media, providing recommendations for effective communication strategies to underpin public confidence in the euro. Understanding the power of media over community perception can facilitate the development of better informed monetary and communication policies that enhance euro stability and acceptance in the euro area.

Author Biography

Ana – Maria GIURGI

PhD student, Faculty of Economy and Business Administration, University Alexandru Ioan Cuza of Iasi

References

Banducci, S. A., Karp, E. A., & Loedel, P. H. (2003). The euro, economic interests and multi-level governance: Examining support for the common currency. European Journal of Political Research, 42(5), 685–703. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00100

Bordo, M. D., Jonung, L., & Markiewicz, A. (2013). A Fiscal Union for the Euro: Some Lessons from History. CESifo Economic Studies, 59(3), 449–488. https://doi.org/10.1093/cesifo/ift001

Chowdhury, K. R. (2020). TF-IDF using R. Medium. https://medium.com/@kounteyo1998/tf-idf-using-r-19fe750a9d15

Deroose, S., Hodson, D., & Kuhlmann, J. (2007). The legitimation of EMU: Lessons from the early years of the euro. Review of International Political Economy, 14(5), 800–819. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290701642697

European Central Bank. (2021). Five things you need to know about the Maastricht Treaty. European Central Bank. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/educational/explainers/tell-me-more/html/25_years_maastricht.en.html

European Commission. (2023). What is the euro area? Economy-finance.ec.europa.eu. https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/euro/what-euro-area_en

European Commission. (2019). Flash Eurobarometer 481 (The Euro Area, October 2019). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. https://doi.org/10.4232/1.13417

Ford, C. (2019). Reading PDF Files into R for Text Mining. Library.virginia.edu. https://library.virginia.edu/data/articles/reading-pdf-files-into-r-for-text-mining

Gabel, M., & Hix, S. (2005). Understanding Public Support for British Membership of the Single Currency. Political Studies, 53(1), 65–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00517.x

Gunnella, V., Lebastard, L., Lopez-Garcia, P., Serafini, R., & Mattioli, A. Z. (2021). The Impact of the Euro on Trade: Two Decades into Monetary Union. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3941630

Hobolt, S. B., & Leblond, P. (2014). Economic Insecurity and Public Support for the Euro. Mass Politics in Tough Times, 128–147. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199357505.003.0005

Marcussen, M., & Zølner, M. (2003). Monetarism and the Masses. Cooperation and Conflict, 38(2), 101–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010836703038002002

Roth, F., & Jonung, L. (2022). Public Support for the Euro and Trust in the ECB: The First Two Decades of the Common Currency. Contributions to Economics, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86024-0_1

Roth, F., Jonung, L., & Nowak-Lehmann D., F. (2022). Crisis and Public Support for the Euro. Contributions to Economics, 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86024-0_7

Rul, C. V. den. (2019). How to Generate Word Clouds in R. Medium. https://towardsdatascience.com/create-a-word-cloud-with-r-bde3e7422e8a

Skaggs, N. T. (1998). Debt as the Basis of Currency. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 57(4), 453–467. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1998.tb03375.x

Verdun, A. (2019). Economic and Monetary Union. In European Union Politics (pp. 343–357). https://doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780198806530.003.0023

Witt, U. (2016). Economic policy making in evolutionary perspective. In Rethinking Economic Evolution (pp. 209–226). https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785365072.00022

Articles used for content analysis

Scarpetta, V. (2014). Italy’s economic problems are not caused by the euro, but by the country’s chaotic political system. London School of Economics (EUROPP Blog). Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/

Jones, G. (2017). Out of pocket, Italians fall out of love with the euro. Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN15N0JH/

Gaunt, J. (2017). Two reasons why Italians are turning sour on the euro. Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN17E1JZ/

Romano, B. (2018). Italy’s Euroscepticism: A case of victimhood and a tale of missed opportunity. Jacques Delors Institute. Available at: https://institutdelors.eu/en/publications/italys-euroscepticism-a-case-of-victimhood-and-a-tale-of-miss-opportunity/

Severgnini, B. (2018). Will Italy leave the E.U.? Not so fast. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/opinion/italy-leave-european-union.html

Jones, E. (2018). Italy’s real euro referendum. Politico. Available at: https://www.politico.eu/article/opinion-italys-real-euro-referendum-matteo-salvini-league/

Scazzieri, L., & Springford, J. (2018). Why Italy will confront the EU, but stay in the euro. Centre for European Reform. Available at: https://www.cer.eu/insights/why-italy-will-confront-eu-stay-euro

Gligorov, V. (2018). Italy and the euro. The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. Available at: https://wiiw.ac.at/italy-and-the-euro-n-346.html

Brunazzo, M., & Mascitelli, B. (2020). At the origin of Italian Euroscepticism. Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies. Available at: https://esaanz.org.au/anzjes/

Kantar. (2020). How the pandemic has changed the way Italians view the EU. Available at: https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/politics/2020-how-the-pandemic-has-changed-the-way-italians-view-the-eu

Poli, E., & Valentiner, M. (2020). From Albertini to Anti-Europeanism: Shades of Euroscepticism in Italy. L’Europe en Formation, (373), 66. https://doi.org/10.3917/eufor.373.0066

Guarascio, D., Heimberger, P., & Zezza, F. (2023). The Euro Area’s Achilles heel: Reassessing Italy’s long decline in the context of European integration and globalisation. The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. Available at: https://wiiw.ac.at/the-euro-area-s-achilles-heel-reassessing-italy-s-long-decline-in-the-context-of-european-integration-and-globalisation-p-6622.html

Published

26-12-2024