Protests and the Influence of Media
Protests are often employed by people in different parts of the world as a measure of expression, for their voices to be heard. The dissertation looks into how protests work and whether the media has the capacity to influence their overall outcome. The study does an extensive review of the existing literature done by various professional scholars relating to the topic. Drawing from the history and the post-modern society, the media is in most instances used to not only cover protests but also in planning and execution. The study also reviews scholarly works to have a broader view of the role of media in protests.
Case Studies
The study presents four case studies, all covered differently by traditional and modern media. The case studies include Civil Rights Movement 1954-1968, 2009 Iranian Presidential elections protests Green Movement, Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and Black Lives Matter. The study explores how the movements arose, what facilitated their influence, the role of social media, and their overall achievements. The purpose of these case studies is to give an illustration of the research conducted on the four areas segments and to draw a tentative conclusion about demonstrations and the influence of media on the outcome of social movements’ protests. The study findings are of utmost importance to the field of political science by offering more knowledge relating to the study topic and providing a platform for further research.
Keywords: media, protests
Introduction
Technology has played a major transformation on how people mobilize and how social movements can organize their activities. The dissertation explores some of the consequences of employing the earlier analog media and the present day digital media looking into such accounts as human rights and political activism through protests. The aim of the paper is to give an analysis of whether protests actually work and if using media influences the overall outcome of the protests.
The media has the ability to influence peoples’ attitudes and perceptions on critical matters depending on how the information is presented (Vliegenthart et al., 2016, p.840). Technology has gradually evolved over time and so has the print and Broadcast Media. In the 19th and early 20th century, most people primarily relied on magazines and newspapers to get information. However, the radio and TV journalism has been in dominance from the mid-21st century. Moreover, over the last few decades, the internet and social media have significantly influenced entertainment and serve as effective tools for mass media communication hence they are commonly used by protestors.
The dissertation looks into four different case studies with each of them examining a social movement with a distinct particular structure. However, it is worth noting that there are significant similarities between the movements (Whittier, 2004). Since the early days of media, both the politicians and activists continue to use the medium on a gradual basis. The use of the Internet, in particular, attracts different opinions in regards to whether it is good or bad and deliberations of its political potentials continue to draw mixed reactions (Dahlberg-Grundberg, 2016, p.34). In the capitalistic societies, the existence of digital media is usually based on a contradicting context with different parties fighting for their own interests over produced media’s content and ownership (Boler, 2010). Ideally, this means that different actors can, therefore, question the form of media used since they all carry different potentials. For example, the media played a major role in helping the nation progress towards enhancing equality through highlighting most of the civil rights movement important events.
The media can, therefore, have a widespread influence on protest movements and the respective affected governments can act differently in an attempt to suppress the protests with the most prominent measure being the shutdown of media houses or Internet access (Tufekci, 2017). Such occurrences are commonly experienced in the emerging economies where democracy is not yet fully realized.
Conceptual Framework and Literature Review
A number of scholarly studies have been undertaken to identify if protests are good measures of expressing dissatisfaction, whether media plays a role in their effectiveness, and if the protests work in the long run. Valenzuela, (2013 p. 930) identified that studies show that there exists some tangible relationship between how frequent the media is used and political involvement even though it is not clearly elaborated how increased political activity translates from the media use. However, the uses of social media and protesting tendencies have been linked to initiating from activism and the use of social media to express an opinion (Valenzuela, 2013, p.935). Thus, it is evident that social media as a digital platform can easily facilitate a direct political action.
Either, research has also that the media has connections to the societal power structure, a factor that compromises their ability to remain neutral third parties. Thus, during the circulation of ideas and images to the mass audience, it is often reflective of the power relations within the society hence the perspective is dominated by the ones in power (Goodwin and Jasper, 2015, p.380). Consequently, news media have a tendency to gauge protests based on the aspects of tactics and goals. Studies demonstrate that the protest tactics dictate more how news coverage turns out other than the protest goals (Lee, 2014, p.22). The media heavily lays emphasis on official sources of information which results in more critical coverage. For this reason, there is the possibility of marginalizing the protestors due to much familiarity with government officials. The social control function of the media, therefore, is evident by giving more airtime to the powerful while undermining the marginalized especially those challenging the status quo (Boyle et al., 2012, p.135). Nevertheless, when the same variable got tested outside Western media systems, the studies established that political affiliation influenced the news media employed in countries such as China and Brazil (Shahin e.t al., 2016, p.150). The media can also create a panic situation by exaggerating negative consequences and potential threats of protests, traffic congestion, and property damage.
With the emergence of new technologies, instant communication has made protesting all different. It is now possible to view live streaming video and spread the information so fast to reach massive numbers of people with just a tap with the fingers (Kelly, 2006, p.210). Such social platforms as the Facebook and Twitter have significantly been helpful in protests from the onset stages of planning all the way to execution. Thus, the new demonstration movements experienced in the 21st century ranging from the Occupy movement, the Arab uprising in 2011, and protests experienced in Spain shows a significant relationship of the emergence of social media and arising of new patterns of protests (Gerbaudo, 2018). The new media has brought contemporary experience in protesting through the creative possibilities of Tweets and new politics of dissent (Carter, 2016, p.781; Comunello and Anzera, 2012, p.460; Kidd and Mclntosh, 2016, p.789; Morozov, 2011).
Further, Boyle and Schmierbach, (2009, p. 11) found that despite intense exploration of studies focusing on the role of media use on political participation, the alternative forms of media have to a great extent being ignored. Consequently, through research, it has been identified that the news media critically treat activities arising from protests hence suggesting that alternative participation is discouraged by the mainstream media. However, a study found that indeed there is a positive relationship between the alternative media such as protest Web sites to alternative participation (Schmierbach, 2009, p. 17). Other studies show that protest issue affects the magnitude of coverage of the protest with the ones touching on political factors or identifying with war receiving less positive coverage (Lee, 2014, p.22)
Correspondingly, Stepanova, (2011, p.3) notes that the influence of social media and new information networks as contributing factors of immense sociopolitical protest significantly varies from one political context to another and from one region to another based on such factors as the Internet access, internet penetration to the population, and the general development of a nation. Either, most active internet users fall under the younger, relatively educated generation meaning they should not only belong to a sizeable percentage of the population but also represent most of the activists (Thorburn, 2014, p.56). However, this is not always the case especially in some segments of the population where the younger generation faces a decline. Therefore, in as much social media is influential, other means of communication and information including cell phones and satellite televisions play critical roles in mobilization Stepanova, (2011, p.4).
Moreover, Andrews and Biggs, (2006, p.759) tried to assess through a comparison of cities where sit-ins took place in the mid-20th century with other cities where protests of such kind did not happen using event-history analysis based on news media, social networks, and movement organization. Their study found that movement organization significantly influenced protests mostly driven by the activists’ cadre and found little evidence to support social networks impact on diffusion among the cities. In contrast, news media were of utmost importance in relaying information relating to protests taking place elsewhere. In the 1950s and 1960s, racial and religious riots were commonly experienced in America and pursuance of media was considered beneficial so as to mobilize support, gain legitimacy, and convey the protest groups’ message beyond the likeminded people (Cammaerts, 2012, p.124).
In 2001, during the trial to impeach Joseph Estrada, the president of Philippine, his loyalists in the Congress voted in favor of setting aside crucial evidence of corruption allegations against him. Two hours later, angry that the president might not face the law, thousands of Filipinos converged to protest following quick forwarded text messages reaching to over 7 million in one week. The impact resulted in the withdrawal of the vote by the legislators hence allowing the evidence to be presented and three days later, the president was gone. Social media played an influential role in forcing out a national leader for the first time in history (Shirky, C., 2011, p.28). To support these sentiments, a survey done by Tufekci and Wilson, (2012, p.370) on the participants of Egypt’s Tahrir Square protesters demonstrated that social media, mainly Facebook helped played a significant role by providing new sources of information which were not easily controllable by the then regime. Moreover, this played a critical role in determining how the Egyptians arrived at individual decisions to participate in the protests, the logistical issues, and the probability of success. Face to face conversations, phone contacts, and Facebook provided the platforms for interpersonal communications through which individuals primarily learned about the protests (Tufekci and Wilson, 2012, p.370). The dissertation, therefore, seeks to explore the topic of protest by focusing on the following research objectives in regards to the text reviewed,
1. To confirm whether protests work or if media coverage influence the overall outcome
2. To analyze four case studies covered differently and assess how the media impacted on the protests
3. To assess the role of social media on protests
4. To examine how protests benefit from traditional media coverage and the use of social media
5. To correlate the results based on the findings and the evidence from the studied cases
Dissertation Plan
The dissertation intends to give a clearer analysis of protests and the contribution of the media to either influence the success or failure of activism. The study has already given an inclusive theoretical framework and as well covered an extensive literature review. Following the discussion of different scholarly studies related to the current study topic, the dissertation will then introduce the study methodology so as to offer a broader understanding of the research.
The second chapter aims to discuss the first case study in detail in line with the research methodology of the study. America’s Civil rights Movement of 1954-1968 will be discussed by looking into the factors that resulted in the establishment of the movement and the contribution that the media played in enhancing its effectiveness. Moreover, the chapter will discuss the contribution that the movement made in enhancing desegregation in American societies.
In the third chapter, the 2009 Iranian Presidential election protests will be discussed in detail as the second case under study. Similarly, just as in the second chapter the dissertation will aim to examine the circumstances that championed the protests, the influencing factors, and whether it was successful in the long run. Iran, being a country which fights media freedom the chapter will look into the measures that the protesters employed to make it work.
The fourth chapter will detail the third case study, Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and dig dip through study to identify what actually caused the protest. Much emphasis will be laid on examining how the media portrayed the protesters in Malheur and the impact it had on the overall process. Ideally, the dissertation will evaluate whether media coverage had any impact on the overall outcome of the occupation.
Black live Matters as the last case under study will be covered in the fifth chapter by equally examining the how the media portrayed the protesters. Moreover, the effectiveness of the protest will also be evaluated why the movement has become so popular.
The last chapter will entail a review of all the gathered information from the four case studied with the purpose finding answers to the research questions. The findings will be correlated to give a clearer picture of the commonalities and differences of the four case studies used in the dissertation.
Methodology
The dissertation uses qualitative research method to collect data for four case studies. The methodology is employed in order to collect more information and deduce conclusions based on the dissertation topic and more specifically drawing from the case studies. Thus, the study uses an analysis of already existing data from various scholarly research studies by digging deep into the available databases in line with the research questions. To appropriately address this, the dissertation relies on the published journals, articles, books, and relevant internet sources. The time efficiency and cost-effectiveness are the primary reasons why the dissertation uses the methodology since it would be way more costly and complex to do a new study altogether. Nonetheless, secondary data contains vast scholarly studies which equate to more information which appropriately fits the target population at all levels.
The dissertation uses case studies since the research entails studying more dynamic populations in which it would be relatively difficult to do a follow-up. Either, case studies are also less time-consuming, less costly and form one of the best ways to carry out a new research. Once completed, the value of the findings can generate a new and more advanced research relating to the field under study, a situation that allows scholars to better understand the value of perception. Thus, case studies give insight into the incidences that may not be learned differently.
The study findings could be used by the general public, students, researchers, or scholars to give a broader view and understanding of various forms of protests and the role of media in influencing their outcomes. Finally, the findings not only form an integral part to the field of research for other scholars to borrow from and conduct more studies based on the outcome but also offer more insight to the work of other researchers.
Civil Rights Movement 1954-1968
The Civil Rights Movement 1954-1968 is a movement that advocated for racial equity in the United States of America. The Civil Rights Movement broke through the pattern of segregation based on racial background by employing various techniques of non-violent protests since black Americans were not allowed to share the same churches, schools, buses, restaurants, and additional necessary amenities with the white Americans. By mid-1960s the movement had facilitated the passage of the equal-right law with an intention to bring to an end racial discrimination (Alderman et al., 2013, p.174).
At the time of America’s independence, quite a majority of the blacks in the country at that time were slaves who did not receive any basic rights of citizens since the constitution did not recognize them as such. However, following several amendments, the blacks finally got the same voting right as whites during the 15th Amendment of 1870 although the voting rights only belonged to men (Hauer, 2013, p.1027). Additionally, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of sanctioning racial segregation even though the ruling advocated for equal but separate amenities for whites and blacks. Nevertheless, news laws were legislated in the South that not only prevented the blacks from practicing their right to vote but also from reinforcing segregation practices.
On May 17, 1954, in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to have separate schools for the blacks as it brought inequality in the society (Hanushek, 2009, p.358). The decision triggered the blacks’ mass movement with sympathetic whites joining in to fight against inequality and racial segregation. However, the majority of the whites were vehemently against this movement. The spark that ignited the Civil Rights Movement came about when a black woman was arrested in Alabama on December 1, 1955, for refusing in surrender her seat to a white man in a bus. Nonetheless, the situation resulted in a long period of bus boycott pioneered by Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph Abernathy who were both Baptism ministers. Consequently, the nonviolent protest against the bus system led to the desegregation of the buses, wide-spread of similar protests to other communities with King as the Civil Rights Movement’s point man.
Among the first of the movement’s several civil rights sit-ins came in 1960 during which a section of black college students demanded being served some meal at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sit-ins entailed nonviolent protests in which the individuals taking part would enter a public place or a business and hang on until either their grievances were met or were removed by force (Russell and Lamme, 2013, p.68). The gradual spread of the movement across America led to a desegregation of such places as movie theaters, libraries, supermarkets, and departmental stores.
With the purpose to reduce segregation practices in interstate transportation, some members of the movement, mainly students, begun to take part in freedom rides both on the trains and buses although some of them suffered arrest (Frank and Muriithi, 2015, p.14). The King’s historic speech of “I Have a Dream” marked the climax of the movement on August 28, 1963, when protesters took to demonstrations in Washington, D.C. to drum support for the civil right laws that were then in consideration in the Congress and voice their displeasure with racial discrimination. It is believed that the march had more than 200,000 participants both black and white sympathizers.
Civil Rights Movement continued to win several legal battles and the crowning legislative achievement being on July 2, 1964, when the then US president Lyndon Johnson signed Civil Rights Act into law (Andrews and Gaby, 2015, p.512). The law banned any form of segregation in public amenities and advocated for employment of people regardless of color, race, national origin, religion, or sex.
Civil Right movement activities were largely covered through televisions and radios at a time when the numbers of America’s households owning TVs had dramatically increased. However, there was less coverage at the local level contrary to the national level where the movement’s key events were covered for both the American audience and the rest of the world. The shocking scenes of places like Birmingham brought mixed feelings within and beyond America. This situation made the movement more popular hence the civil rights legislation was supported in most regions other than the south. The coverage portrayed America’s story of freedom as meaningless arising to many propaganda opportunities in the context of Cold War.
2009 Iranian President Election Protests
Following alleged rigging and fraud in the 2009 Iranian presidential election and the consequent announcement of the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s win, Iranians were greatly unimpressed the reason why they started protests (Dabashi, 2017). Due to the controlled independence of the media in the country, the protesters were greatly repressed with an intention to silence them. The protesters, however, took massive advantage of the modern day technology mainly the internet, social media and mobile phones by widely sharing video footages of the unfolding events (Shirazi, 2013, p.35). At this stage, the brutal regime could not control the amount of information circulating within and outside Iran. The Green Movement was established from the protests and effectively managed to use social media influence to strengthen the protest (Burns and Eltham, 2009). Either, satellite media channels, for example, BBC were significantly useful in offering information to the rest of the world.
The most prominent media focus on 2009 Iran presidential election was largely critical to the Western world mainly due to the geopolitics of the country, nuclear programs, and the country’s alleged responsibility in triggering the war in Iraq, and allegation of supporting international terror groups such as ISIS ( Dabashi, 2017). All these aspects were immensely visible during the then incumbent’s 2005-2009 leadership. Before this election, the atmosphere was generally tense given that Ahmadinejad had imposed radical and most challenging domestic affairs policies drawing on a populist policy which purposed to help the poor people while ignoring the political, social, and economic demands of the middle class. The president had militarized his government and offered limited political freedom to the opponents. Similarly, the United Nations Security Council had sanctioned Iran due to his unfavorable foreign policies. Thus, it was everybody’s fear than a reelection would result in more totalitarian policies and further suppress the opposition.
Iranians could therefore not take it when the incumbent was reelected and spontaneously began to protest going from weeks to months. Twitter was the commonly used social media tool through which the protesters discussed the plans and the strategies of the demonstrations (Baldino and Goold, 2014, p.30). Similarly, after the street confrontations with the police, the protesters would then publish the videos and pictures of the day’s incidents analyze the results and plan for the following demonstration.
The protests adopted the name Green Movement mainly because it was a color used by one of the opposition’s leaders during campaigns but it vehemently gained popularity in the post-election period devoid of some religious beliefs attached to it by some Iranians. The Green Movement became so diffused thanks to the internet and the gruesome treatment of the Iranians evoked sympathetic feelings (Shirazi, 2013, p.40). The world stood to the course, with the Iranians in abroad staging several protests in solidarity with the protests back home. The demonstrations were evident in the countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, and some countries in Europe (Harris, 2012, p.441). One clear message was the non-recognition of Ahmadinejad as the president and condemnation of human rights violation. Without the help of social media platform and the Internet, the networking, coordination, and organization of the Green Movement’s activities would not have been possible (Dabashi, 2013; Kurzman, 2012, p.164)
The Green Movement enabled to work through difficult times eclipsed with suppression of independent media and adoption of restrictive policies aimed to prevent positive collective actions. Although some of the protesters were brutally murdered by the police force while others suffered disabling injuries, the movement remained committed to its goal of raising human rights concerns and women involvement in politics (Sadeghi, 2012, p.127). In the long run, however, the movement was not successful to recall the allegedly reelected leader but one thing that is clearly visible is the fact that the protestors showed the world how the media particularly the social media, in this case, can influence the spirit of change in a population and the need for a transparent election.
Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
The occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge took place from January 2, 2016, when an informal group of armed individuals seized the land. The invasion was triggered by a land dispute entailing some two local ranchers, Steve Hammond and Dwight Hammond (Gallaher, 2016, p.295). The parties had been charged by a District Court in the US for various counts including two on an account of arson for the fire in the years 2001 and 2006. This was a federal crime that was subject to sentencing based on the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act’s guidelines. In October 2012, Steven and Dwight were convicted on one year one day and three months sentences respectively with the judge arguing that their crime was so small for the mandatory minimum sentence which would have been 5 years (Gallaher, 2016, p.296; Wiles and Thompson, 2016).
However, the case was repealed and the Hammonds were freshly resentenced after they had already served the first sentence. Thus, an order was issued for them to present themselves in prison by January 2016. The resentencing was the primary reason why the militia groups rallied and held protests on January 2, 2016, in Burns after which one of the groups invaded the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge camping in its the administrative buildings (Blumm and Jamin 2016, p.781). The takeover of the refuge happened without any incident since it had been closed for holidays. Consequently, the group informed the media that they had occupied the refuge and not until their demands were met, they would not leave. They demanded that the government had to renounce the ownership of the refuge and the release of the Hammonds from prison (Seraphin, 2017, p.21)
Correspondingly, following the occupation, the Burn’s protests took new shape from advocating against Hammonds’ prison resentencing to concentrating more on the validity the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge land ownership (Dare and Fletcher, 2018, p.12; Siegner, 2017). It is also important to note that the militia, their supporters from the outside, and those who joined them in the camp did not belong to the local area. Actually, neither of the occupiers hailed or resided in Harney County, where the refuge was located. For this reason, in as much as the locals agreed that the Hammonds needed to be released out of prison they disagreed about the occupation.
The occupation took approximately 41 days within which most of the invaders got arrested. However, the impact of media in the coverage of the whole exercise is also questioned given that they seemed to treat it as largely peaceful even though the militia was armed and threatened to use violence in order to have the law changed by the federal government. The armed militants were all white and the media seemed to be very impartial in the coverage. Ideally, it also raises a lot of questions why the FBI took so long to act while in a similar all blacks’ unarmed occupation at Harris Neck in 1979, the FBI acted within 3 days and arrested all the intruders. It was not clear what charges were most appropriate for prosecuting the occupiers of the Malheur wild refuge. However, in March 2016, 26 people were indicted for the felony with conspiracy to impede federal officers (Wang, 2018).
Black Lives Matter
Following the untimely tragic deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in 2014, the youths of color in America took to social media, particularly Twitter and engaged in eruptive debates which continued to grow from the previous killing of yet another black teenager in February 2012 (Obasogie and Newman, 2016, p.541). To a high degree of truth, the debates represented the large struggle of racism and race identity experienced in America over a long period. Using the now popular hashtags #Alllivesmatter and BlacklivesMatter the youths got Twitter by storm with people reacting from all over the world following no induction of the officers involved in the shooting (Carney, 2016, P.185).
The young black men were shot and killed despite the fact that they were unarmed. Trayvon Martin, seventeen years of age was shot and killed by George Zimmerman while visiting his dad in the state of Florida on February 26, 2012 (Garzar, 2018, p.23). George Zimmerman, a community watch captain of a gated surrounding was, however, not found guilty after the trial of Martin’s death. In yet another case, Michael Brown, a black teenage boy was on August 9, 2014, shot dead by a white police officer in the state of Missouri (Obasogie and Newman, 2016, p.541).
Due to these deaths, the Black Lives Movement was started with an intention to celebrate and humanize black lives. The movement aims to be an ideological and political intervention with a goal of freeing the blacks in America from inequality since their lives are intentionally and systematically targeted for killing (Ransby, 2015, p.32). Nevertheless, many people are seen to shift the focus from Black lives matter to all lives matter arguing that they are all significant. To some extent, the American people are not being truly honest by twisting the Black Lives Matter statement with All Lives Matter (Yancy and Butler, 2015, p.156). Thus, they are not actually concentrating on the voice of the raised concerns since in as much as all lives matter; there is a deep and valid argument why there is the reassertion that black lives matter. Therefore, if the statement is not true, then, the Americans are sending an altogether different message that indeed black lives do not matter hence they can be killed and life goes on in a normal way (Jee-Lyn and Sharif, 2015, p.28).
The inception of Black Lives Matter Movement was to counter present day’s colorblind racism in the society with an aim to bring to and the racial oppression found in the US. It is seen as the movement that picks up from the Civil Rights Movement with an intention to fight a different form of racism.
