The Protest Movement

In the last five years, movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, Fight for 15, and Black Lives Matter have increased the prominence of protest as a means to promote political and social change. Members of these movements and their supporters have criticized the ways the media have covered these and other recent protests. For example, many criticized the media’s choice to emphasize violence and looting over the actions of peaceful protesters in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore (Prince, 2015). The media’s role in social movements and how they choose to cover these movements is important because citizens rely on mass media to inform them about what others are doing (Olien, Tichenor, & Donohue, 1989) and because this information helps the public form judgments about the movements (Weaver & Scacco, 2013). The ideal of the media’s role in a democratic society is that they inform the public, which helps the public make informed and independent decisions about what is happening. There is also the idea that the press is acting as a …show more content…
The research and examples presented so far are examples of how this happens. For example, the way media characterize public opinion of protesters and their actions can negatively impact the growth of protest movements by challenging legitimacy. It can also give potential group members the idea that membership will mean isolation from society (McLeod & Hertog, 1992). McLeod and Hertog’s (1992) research regarding public opinion revealed that reporters often expressed how protesters violated social norms and were “eccentric” or “abusive.” The bystander reactions that were used also reflected negative opinions ranging from simply bemused to