Abstract

The goal of the article is to present the data in order to answer the following question: "is there a relationship between representation, perception, and the extent of corruption in Italy"? To be more precise: does media coverage increase consequentially to (and with) the factual increase of corruption crimes? Or perhaps does mass media follow an «instrumentalization logic», altering citizens' perception of the phenomenon? This article integrates data from four different sources of information: 1) the number of articles regarding corruption published by major Italian newspapers; 2) the judicial data on prosecutions for corruption crimes (source: Istat); 3) surveys on direct experiences and opinions from citizens about the presence of the phenomenon (source: Eurobarometer); 4) indicators based on expert perceptions of the spread of the phenomenon (source: Transparency International).