Literature Review
With the recent surge of social and political unrest, a large amount of very public protests have become the norm. The public opinion of these protest is varied across regions, ideologies, and demographics; but what effect does the media have on the formation of these opinions? Is a person more likely to considers a protest legitimate if they are seeing coverage of the event, or less? Are journalists naturally sympathetic towards a movement, or critical?
To draw on a recent example, the Black Lives Matter movement has received a wide variety of media coverage. Outlets have used many of the most predominate frames, such as sensationalizing, sympathy, and violence, to help garner or wane public support for the movement. Media outlets that are considered to be more alternative or liberal are serving to help legitimize the movement. These journalists are providing more background on the movement, allowing more input from followers, …show more content…
The content analysis by Shoemaker (1984) studied how a varying degree of deviance affected the media treatment received by 11 different alternative action groups: League of Woman Voters, Sierra Club, Common Cause, NAACP, National Organization for Women, NRA, Moral Majority, Jewish Defense League, the Communist Party, and the KKK (p. 67). In the study Shoemaker found that more deviant groups like the KKK or Communist Party received a larger amount of condemning language in the coverage of their protests while groups that are most often thought to be non-deviant like the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters were most often covered in a neutral tone. This critical language serves to sensationalize the coverage of protests, causing audiences to see the protests as less important, ineffective, and non-valuable. (Shoemaker,
With the recent surge of social and political unrest, a large amount of very public protests have become the norm. The public opinion of these protest is varied across regions, ideologies, and demographics; but what effect does the media have on the formation of these opinions? Is a person more likely to considers a protest legitimate if they are seeing coverage of the event, or less? Are journalists naturally sympathetic towards a movement, or critical?
To draw on a recent example, the Black Lives Matter movement has received a wide variety of media coverage. Outlets have used many of the most predominate frames, such as sensationalizing, sympathy, and violence, to help garner or wane public support for the movement. Media outlets that are considered to be more alternative or liberal are serving to help legitimize the movement. These journalists are providing more background on the movement, allowing more input from followers, …show more content…
The content analysis by Shoemaker (1984) studied how a varying degree of deviance affected the media treatment received by 11 different alternative action groups: League of Woman Voters, Sierra Club, Common Cause, NAACP, National Organization for Women, NRA, Moral Majority, Jewish Defense League, the Communist Party, and the KKK (p. 67). In the study Shoemaker found that more deviant groups like the KKK or Communist Party received a larger amount of condemning language in the coverage of their protests while groups that are most often thought to be non-deviant like the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters were most often covered in a neutral tone. This critical language serves to sensationalize the coverage of protests, causing audiences to see the protests as less important, ineffective, and non-valuable. (Shoemaker,