Italian Mass Media and the Atom in the 1960s: The Memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Peaceful Atom (1963-1967)

The chapter investigates the representations of both fears and hopes related to atomic issues in Italian mass media from 1963 to 1967, through the analysis of a selection of highly circulated mass-market magazines (representing a broad spectrum of political cultures) and of television programs broadcast by the two Italian public networks of the time. The fears of the “atomic age” are analyzed through the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which represents one of the privileged venues for both molding representations of the atomic bomb and negotiating fears. “Atomic hopes” are investigated, instead, examining the emergent fascination for the peaceful uses of atomic energy, analyzed as the catalyst for a positive perception of the atom at a time when national energy policies were at a crucial turning point.