I soliti teppisti : Ultras, tifo violento e stampa non specializzata in Italia (1985-1995)

The aim of this contribution is to provide a general overview of the ways in which some Italian newspapers described football violence and the Ultras phenomenon between 1985 and 1995. In doing so, it proposes some initial reflections on the interpretation of the media of football hooliganism and their role in the general debate on this subject. Beyond the different political and cultural approaches of the newspapers examined by the article, the prevailing interpretative paradigm tends to provide a stereotyped view of football fandoms, that followed at an initial underestimation of the phenomenon. At the end of the 1980s, as a result of many factors, less superficial interpretations emerged. However, despite the mass of contributions and the variety of the debate that characterized this phase, the impression of a difficulty to provide a more detailed and indepth understanding of the Italian Ultras prevails. [Publisher's text]