Abstract

Since 15 May 2023, the Emilia-Romagna region has been hit by unprecedented floods and landslides that have left 17 people dead and more than 25,000 displaced. The article analyses journalism in emergency contexts, focusing on journalists’ practices and the organisation of local and national Italian newsrooms. After mapping the main media content published by the newspapers involved in the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the role of local journalism and the work carried out in newsrooms during the emergency, as well as their relationship with national media, institutions and communities in the affected areas. The findings highlight the role of social and institutional mediation, rather than mere dissemination, played by the local press in emergency situations. Accustomed by now to spectacularisation and information overload, local journalism seems instead to be a central element in the construction of a community bond, precisely in moments of insecurity and disorientation, but which cannot renounce a critical journalistic outlook even at the national level.