Social Movements and Journalism

News Media and Social Movements

Inasmuch as social pressure groups seek to mobilize people who support their objectives and build networks among other groups, they need effective and efficient methods of communication. Communicating face-to-face and disseminating posters or distributing fliers take time, money, and manpower. Mass media, such as newspapers, radio, and television, have historically played vital roles in mobilizing people and forming networks. Given the powerful impact of media on the public's perception and attitude toward public affairs and issues, media can be the most influential means of mobilizing public support. To draw news media attention, social pressure groups have often created events, such as protests and demonstrations that fit the news media's desire to dramatize them with conflict and tension. Furthermore, news coverage has focused more on protesters' appearance and actions than on their core messages and themes.

As an agent for social control, mainstream news coverage of social movements tends to rely on the degree to which a given movement challenges the status quo. Resource-rich groups with large amounts of financial resources and human resources (e.g., staff, members, and volunteers) may get frequent media attention, while resource-poor groups can be marginalized and decentralized due to their relative scarcity of political power. However, even resource-rich groups cannot ensure positive and sustainable news coverage because journalists depend on political and economic elites as news sources, including governmental officials, policy makers, politicians, and the military; these [Page 1295]individuals often have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, thus, spinning controversial social movements in a negative way to the media and the public. This is especially apparent when radical social movements oppose the current political and social systems.

Numerous historical events demonstrate how mainstream news media portrayed and represented social movements in distorted and negative ways. For example, during the 1960s and 1970s, television news dramatized the anti–Vietnam War protestors and demonstrators by focusing on their violent actions, such as their blocking of roads and attacks on police, rather than on major goals and messages of the movements. During the early years of the gay rights movement of the 1970s and the arrival of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, for another example, news media continued to describe gays and/or lesbians as deviant and even criminal groups who were harmful to society. In the early twenty-first century, news media still focus more on negative and stereotypical images of gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender groups-a local evening newscast introducing a gay-themed story using footage of bawdy gay pride marches, for example. This type of news coverage may have a significant impact on the general public's perceptions, attitudes, and opinions toward social movements.

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