Trayvon Martin and Election 2012 Social Media Messaging: an Analysis of Framing, Rhetoric, and Media Types in Online Messages by Civil Rights Organizations
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The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Summer 8-2013 Trayvon Martin and Election 2012 Social Media Messaging: An Analysis of Framing, Rhetoric, and Media Types in Online Messages by Civil Rights Organizations Riva Renee Brown University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Social Influence and oliticalP Communication Commons, and the Social Media Commons Recommended Citation Brown, Riva Renee, "Trayvon Martin and Election 2012 Social Media Messaging: An Analysis of Framing, Rhetoric, and Media Types in Online Messages by Civil Rights Organizations" (2013). Dissertations. 164. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/164 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi TRAYVON MARTIN AND ELECTION 2012 SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGING: AN ANALYSIS OF FRAMING, RHETORIC, AND MEDIA TYPES IN ONLINE MESSAGES BY CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS by Riva Renee Brown Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2013 ABSTRACT TRAYVON MARTIN AND ELECTION 2012 SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGING: AN ANALYSIS OF FRAMING, RHETORIC, AND MEDIA TYPES IN ONLINE MESSAGES BY CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS by Riva Renee Brown August 2013 This content analysis study explored framing, rhetoric, and media types used by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Urban League, National Action Network, and ColorOfChange.org in website and social media messages posted during the Trayvon Martin case and Election 2012. It also examined the mainstream print news media coverage these civil rights organizations generated. On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a 28 year old White and Hispanic male, fatally shot Martin, a 17 year old Black male, in Florida. After authorities did not charge Zimmerman with the teenager’s murder, these organizations drafted petitions and staged rallies and marches to demand justice. During Election 2012, the organizations addressed voter suppression and voting rights issues such as voter identification, anti- early voting, and felony disenfranchisement laws. Chi-square and likelihood ratio results showed a significant difference in the collective action and news frames each organization used in both cases. Qualitative analysis suggested that the organizations preferred rhetorical strategies and tactics that encouraged supporters to unite against perceived enemies. Overall, the results suggested that the organizations failed to use multimedia effectively and did not do enough to secure complimentary news media ii coverage and encourage their supporters and others to engage in online and offline activism. iii COPYRIGHT BY RIVA RENEE BROWN 2013 The University of Southern Mississippi TRAYVON MARTIN AND ELECTION 2012 SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGING: AN ANALYSIS OF FRAMING, RHETORIC, AND MEDIA TYPES IN ONLINE MESSAGES BY CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS by Riva Renee Brown A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved: Kim M. LeDuff ______________________ Director Gina M. Chen________________________ Cheryl D. Jenkins_____________________ Mary Lou Sheffer_____________________ Jun Heo_____________________________ Susan A. Siltanen_____________________ Dean of the Graduate School August 2013 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend sincere thanks to my dissertation committee chair, Dr. Kim LeDuff, for her guidance and support throughout this process. I also thank my past and present committee members for their assistance. Dr. David Davies, Dr. Cheryl Jenkins, Dr. Mary Lou Sheffer, Dr. Gina Chen, and Dr. Jun Heo provided much-needed feedback. I am very grateful. Heartfelt thanks go to my cheerleader Denny Teague, sister Vivia Brown Hall, friend Ty Thomas, Esq., former boss Dr. Olorundare “Dr. Dare” Aworuwa, and the Fresh Start family for their constant encouragement throughout my Ph.D. journey. From my very first doctoral class, their prayers, calls, texts, emails, and cards motivated me to keep the faith. I can never thank them enough for all they have done. Finally, my first cousins set a good example for me to become the fourth offspring of Van and Indiana Huderson to earn a Ph.D. Dr. Robert Westley, Dr. Brandy Huderson, and Dr. Ashley Huderson, I feel extremely blessed to finally join your ranks. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................ ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................1 Purpose and Significance of Study Organization Background Trayvon Martin Case Background Election 2012 Background II. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................11 Collective Action Framing Tone Rhetoric Media Types III. HYPOTHESES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ....................................29 IV. METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................33 Trayvon Martin Case Election 2012 Reliability Coding Categories V. RESULTS ...................................................................................................45 Trayvon Martin Case Election 2012 VI. DISCUSSION ..........................................................................103 v Trayvon Martin Case Election 2012 VII. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................123 Limitations and Future Research APPENDIXES.................................................................................................................131 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................143 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Trayvon Martin Case Quantitative Units of Analysis ...........................................36 2. Trayvon Martin Case Qualitative Units of Analysis .............................................37 3. Trayvon Martin Case Newspaper Articles.............................................................38 4. Election 2012 Quantitative Units of Analysis .......................................................40 5. Election 2012 Qualitative Units of Analysis .........................................................41 6. Election 2012 Newspaper Articles ........................................................................42 7. Trayvon Martin Collective Action Frame by Organization...................................46 8. Trayvon Martin Case Collective Action Frame by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post.........................................................................................................................47 9. Trayvon Martin Case News Frame by Organization .............................................49 10. Trayvon Martin Case News Frame by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post............50 11. Trayvon Martin Case News Frame by Newspaper Article....................................51 12. Trayvon Martin Case Tone by Organization .........................................................55 13. Trayvon Martin Case Tone by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post ........................56 14. Trayvon Martin Case Tone by Newspaper Type...................................................56 15. Trayvon Martin Case Action Type by Organization .............................................66 16. Trayvon Martin Case Action Type by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post ............67 17. Trayvon Martin Case Media Type by Organization..............................................68 18. Trayvon Martin Case Media Type by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post.............69 19. Trayvon Martin Case Hyperlink Types by Organization ......................................71 vii 20. Trayvon Martin Case Hyperlink Types by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post ...............................................................................................................................72 21. Election 2012 Collective Action Frame by Organization......................................76 22. Election 2012 Collective Action Frame by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post.....78 23. Election 2012 News Frame by Organization.........................................................79 24. Election 2012 News Frame by Twitter Tweet and Facebook Post........................81 25. Election 2012 News Frame by Newspaper Article................................................82 26. Election 2012 Tone by Organization .....................................................................84 27. Election 2012 Tone by