Riccardo Ferrigato
I am a doctoral candidate researching media history. I am particularly interested in examining the political economy of communication infrastructures, their maintenance practices, and the associated maintenance cultures. The working title of my dissertation is "Maintaining Connections: Maintenance and Repair in the History of Telegraph and Telephone Infrastructures (1850-1950)". My investigation, under the supervision of Prof. Gabriele Balbi, aims to illuminate the significance and implications of maintenance and repair in the development of communication infrastructures. As a visiting student at the CHoSTM, I will research the upkeep of the global submarine telegraph network from 1864 to 1914, with a particular emphasis on the leading company in this field, the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company.
I’m also research assistant for the Swiss Team for the “Global Media and Internet Concentration Project”, and I teach “Writing” at Università Cattolica in Milan (Italy).
BIOGRAPHY
I studied for my BA and MA in Political Philosophy at Università San Raffaele, Milan (Italy), and then worked for more than a decade in the Italian publishing sector, as an editor, translator, and author. In 2023, I joined as PhD student the IMeG, the Institute of Media and Journalism at USI – Università della Svizzera Italiana, in Lugano (Switzerland).
PUBLICATIONS
Ferrigato, R., & Balbi, G. (2025). Toward a media maintenance approach (MEMA): Maintenance as a theoretical tool for media studies. Media, Culture & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437251377966
Ferrigato R., Mazzoni P., Prario B., Balbi G. (2025) Change and resilience in Swiss newspapers and broadcasting, 2002 and 2022: Towards a critique of media concentration indices. Communication & Society, 38(1), 464-481. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.38.1.033
Ferrigato, R., Non doveva morire. Come Paolo VI cercò di salvare Aldo Moro. Cinisello Balsamo (MI): Edizioni San Paolo, 2018.
La Torre, F., La Torre, F., Ferrigato R., Ecco chi sei. Pio La Torre nostro padre. Cinisello Balsamo (MI): Edizioni San Paolo, 2017.