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Raising the Volume: Media and the Rise of the 21St Century Tea Party

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Raising the Volume: Media and the Rise of the 21St Century Tea Party University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2013 Raising the Volume: Media and the Rise of the 21st Century Tea Party Khadijah Lorraine White University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation White, Khadijah Lorraine, "Raising the Volume: Media and the Rise of the 21st Century Tea Party" (2013). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 817. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/817 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/817 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Raising the Volume: Media and the Rise of the 21st Century Tea Party Abstract Raising the Volume: The News Media and the Rise of the Twenty-First-Century Tea Party is a multi- platform analysis that critically examines the ways in which online, broadcast, and print news outlets have used the Tea Party to address modern conflicts vo er race, class, gender, journalism, and politics. While the current Tea Party and its previous incarnations have had a perpetual presence in American politics, national news outlets recognized the phenomenon as the rise of a New Right only recently, at the very beginning of the Obama presidency. This work locates the way that journalists have used the Tea Party movement to represent the contemporary slippages between news platforms, journalistic norms, and political institutions. Due to its meteoric rise in the national news spotlight, this dissertation examines the news coverage of the Tea Party as a case study that explores the key themes, ideologies, and features of national news and political storytelling in a digital age. Specifically, this dissertation answers this research question: How does the news coverage of the Tea Party serve as a cipher into the values, function, and norms of a transforming media and political environment? Implicitly, I am also asking: What are the key themes and news and political storytelling in the Obama-era and technology-laden period? And what recurring ideologies appear in news narratives at this moment? Through a close examination of the Tea Party's early emergence in the national news media, this project describes how it was widely portrayed by reporters in two distinct ways: 1) as indicative of an increasingly complex, expansive, and digitally-enhanced news environment 2) as a political brand and 3) as a response to a socio-political landscape transformed by the race and gender make-up of the candidates in the 2008 presidential campaign. In a media environment in which everyone has the opportunity to tune out, tune in, and speak back, Tea Party news coverage ultimately shows the dissolution of the categories that distinguish citizens, journalists, activists, and consumers in a branded and fragmented media. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Communication First Advisor John L. Jackson Keywords gender, media, news, politics, race, tea party Subject Categories Sociology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/817 RAISING THE VOLUME: NEWS MEDIA AND THE RISE OF THE TWENTY- FIRST-CENTURY TEA PARTY Khadijah White A DISSERTATION in Communication Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of the Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Supervisor of Dissertation Signature __________________ John L. Jackson Jr. Richard Perry University Professor of Communication and Anthropology, Graduate Group Chairperson Signature __________________ Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Communication, Dissertation Committee Michael X. Delli Carpini, Walter H. Annenberg Dean and Professor of Communication Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication Elihu Katz, Distinguished Trustee Professor of Communication Barbie Zelizer, Raymond Williams Professor of Communication ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first thanks go to my advisor, John Jackson. In my time here, his support, trust, and advice have fueled my entire journey, not just this manuscript. His patience, generosity, and thoughtfulness will continue to guide my work and me for many years to come. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, from emails to in-person meetings, has availed herself to me in more ways than I can count; she exemplifies the kind of teacher, mentor, and scholar I hope to become. Barbie Zelizer has managed to be the only professor to give me dissertation advice on three different continents. I can say with full confidence that her intellect and expertise transcend boundaries. Michael Delli Carpini, who so skillfully answers research questions on the fly, has made a top-quality research institution an equally incredible learning community. Somehow he manages to make it all look effortless. Elihu Katz’s sharp wit and incredible breadth, experience, insight, and encouragement have made our every interaction not only worthwhile, but also a treat. These scholars embody academic excellence in ways that far exceed the boundaries of the classroom and I am so honored that I have gotten to learn from each of them. The staff at the Annenberg School are incredible. They have prepared homemade dinners, offered to read my chapters, hoarded newspaper articles for me, helped me with my website, and knowledgeably navigated me through every year. Dr. Debra Williams, Deb Porter, Rose Halligan, Joe Diorio, Kyle Cassidy, Emily Plowman, Lizz Cooper, Waldo Aguirre, Donna Edwards, Sharon Black, Yogi Sukwa, and so many more. Kelly Fernandez, thanks for sharing your expertise and time. Mrs. Beverly Henry, especially, ii has given constant support to students of color and made it possible for so many of us to succeed. As for my colleagues, my mentors, my friends, my partners-in-crime: there are too many to count. At Annenberg, Drs. Dan Berger, C. Riley Snorton, and Jasmine Cobb have advised me, laughed with me, and shared with me. Also: Andrew Crocco, Piotr Szpunar, Drs. Lauren Kogen, Jeff Gottfried. Thank you. Dr. Aymar Jean Christian is more than a trusted friend and a brilliant scholar – he’s been my anchor, holding me down. My historian comrades, Maryan Soliman and Richara Heyward, you have given me laughter, joy, and adventure. Maryan, from the very first day to the very last, you’ve been everything a friend could be (and more). Dr. Cabral Bigman, I am in your debt forever for your input and feedback. Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser, thank you for your continual encouragement and support. Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry opened her home as a place of study and conversation, and countless others have helped in different ways. Thank you all. To my boyfriend, Anthony, I have few words to express my love and gratitude for all you do and all you are. This manuscript might have been completed without your assistance and presence in my life, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as livable, joyous, or rigorous. So glad that we each finished our PhD journey together. My nana, Lorraine Baumgardner, was a housekeeper who only completed sixth grade- when I was little she was never too proud to ask me how to spell things and to read her letters for mistakes. She taught me humility. My brilliant mom, Donna White, finished college with me in her arms, the only one of her siblings to graduate- she taught me endurance. My sister Khaleah White, who's been in and out of the hospital so many iii times while this manuscript was being written-- you teach me strength. Khaneisha and Khalil White, my munchies - you taught me to never take anything too seriously (especially myself). And the rest of the village that holds me up— Cassandra Campbell (Aunt CeeCee), Clarice Peterson (Aunt ReeCee), Mama Donna Costley, Katrina Morison, , Andria Matthews, Brandis Belt, Deborah Johnson, Lashann Baumgardner, Uncle Stevie, Uncle Coven, Heather Booth, Ashley Freeman, the Reeves Family, and endless lists of uncles and aunties, colleagues with whom I bonded along the way -- I have no other words but thank you. You've not only kept me going, you've shaped me, loved on me, encouraged me, and believed in me when I couldn't do any of those things for myself. I dedicate this manuscript to my grandfather, David Costley, and my uncle, Reginald Burl. So grateful you were here to see me start this journey; so sad you are gone as I finish it. I am me because of you. iv ABSTRACT RAISING THE VOLUME: NEWS MEDIA AND THE RISE OF THE TWENTY- FIRST-CENTURY TEA PARTY Khadijah White John L. Jackson Jr. Raising the Volume: The News Media and the Rise of the Twenty-First-Century Tea Party is a multi-platform analysis that critically examines the ways in which online, broadcast, and print news outlets have used the Tea Party to address modern conflicts over race, class, gender, journalism, and politics. While the current Tea Party and its previous incarnations have had a perpetual presence in American politics, national news outlets recognized the phenomenon as the rise of a New Right only at the very beginning of the Obama presidency. This work locates the way that journalists have used the Tea Party movement to represent the contemporary slippages between news platforms, journalistic norms, and political institutions. Due to its meteoric rise in the national news spotlight, this dissertation examines the news coverage of the Tea Party as a case study that explores the key themes, ideologies, and features of national news and political
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