Reporting demonstrations: The changing media politics of dissent

In liberal democratic theory demonstrations and protests have long been seen as a bridge helping to overcome possible disconnects between publics, opinion formation and decision-makers and, in more recent social theory, they are thought to perform a role in vitalizing moribund parliamentary democracies, crystallizing collective identities and circulating new cultural codes. In Britain today, as in many other Western democracies, demonstrations and protests have moved from the margins to the mainstream, becoming increasingly profuse and an accepted political tactic for an expanded range of organizations, single-issue campaigns, new social movements and transnational advocacy networks. They depend on the media, and the news media particularly, to get their message across and mobilize wider support. Much has changed however, since earlier studies documented how the news media reported protests and demonstrations through a dominant law and (dis)order frame, labelling protesters as deviant and de-legitimizing their aims and politics by emphasizing drama, spectacle and violence. This discussion considers some of these major changes and, on this basis, proposes a new research agenda for the exploration of the complexities and contingencies that now inform the news media's reporting of dissent. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]