Danielle Kilgo, journalism professor at Indiana University, presents the
results of her research into the way journalists present, or frame, protest movements depending on the issues at stake. Her article at Consortium News is entitled, “Riot or Resistance: Media Framing Shapes Public View.”
Her data demonstrates the inherent bias of reporters depending on the issues being protested and the effects of reporter bias on public perception. Below is an excerpt.
My research has found that some protest movements have more trouble than others getting legitimacy. My co-author Summer Harlow and I have studied how local and metropolitan newspapers cover protests. We found that narratives about the Women’s March and anti-Trump protests gave voice to protesters and significantly explored their grievances. On the other end of the spectrum, protests about anti-black racism and indigenous people’s rights received the least legitimizing coverage, with them more often seen as threatening and violent.
Decades ago, scholars James Hertog and Douglas McLeod identified how news coverage of protests contributes to the maintenance of the status quo, a phenomenon referred to as “the protest paradigm.” They held that media narratives tend to emphasize the drama, inconvenience and disruption of protests rather than the demands, grievances and agendas of protesters. These narratives trivialize protests and ultimately dent public support.
You can read the entire article here.
