Abstract

This paper highlights the progressive shrinkage of news and programs dedicated to the African continent in the Italian mainstream media and its thematization almost exclusively in function of migration processes and of the contextual involvement of Italian institutions or protagonists. Faced with a limited and stereotyped coverage, the article explores Italian adolescents and pre-adolescents’ perception of the African continent. The findings show on the one hand the persistence, in Italian teens’ imaginary, of Africa as a poor and backward country; on the other hand, their awareness of a «third world frame» that reveals more about Europe and its colonial background than about Africa and its heterogeneous cultures