Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Summer 7-31-2018 Selling Protest in the News? Movement-Media Framing of Occupations: an Exploratory Study Andrew David Butz Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Sociology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Butz, Andrew David, "Selling Protest in the News? Movement-Media Framing of Occupations: an Exploratory Study" (2018). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4510. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.6394 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Selling Protest in the News? Movement-Media Framing of Occupations: An Exploratory Study by Andrew David Butz A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Dissertation Committee: Robert Liebman, Chair Daniel Jaffee Amy Lubitow Lee Shaker Portland State University 2018 © 2018 Andrew David Butz Abstract Using quantitative content analysis, this study explores social movement (SM) framing in commercial news media – by comparing how leading newspapers covered prominent protest occupations in 2011 and 2016. More than other SMs, anti-systemic protests like the 2011 Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the 2016 Malheur Refuge Occupation (MRO) only have partial frame-setting agency, raising a broad theory question (to inform the research questions below): If SMs and media relate as interacting systems, are protest news frames more movement- or more media- driven; and do media not just enable but also constrain SMs? With the movement-media theory question above, the study design adapts media opportunity structure (MOS) to model a hierarchy of influences on news coverage of ideologically opposed or “distant twin” OWS and MRO, as 40- to 60-day protest occupations. The focused research question – exploring media’s constraining potential – asks if commercial news framing of collective action: i) commercially frames or “sells” even anti-corporate protest; or ii) instead marginalizes or neutralizes such protest? Coverage from three top national or state newspapers (The New York Times, USA Today, and The Oregonian) was analyzed randomly from all protest stories during the occupations. Sampled time periods in 2011 and 2016, during actual encampments/ occupations in Portland, OR and New York City (OWS) and in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon (MRO), also correspond with transitional years in print news. The inductive-based comparative results, from 15 coding dimensions for news framing of collective action, dispersed passivity, and commercially-framed activism, i showed some evidence for the “selling protest” question. And the compiled summary Framing Advantages and Disadvantages yield this study’s key finding: Although anti- corporate OWS was far larger, with more widespread media coverage, the comparative overall media frame for the small, remote, anti-government MRO was far more potent and resonant. Comparing media-and-movement framing of these distant twin 40-day protest occupations finds some support for the “selling (or underselling) protest” question. This comparative frame analysis helps bridge micro- and macro-theory levels, addressing an enduring dual gap in movement-media research literature – to yield insight on SMs’ and media’s respective roles in protest news framing and identify potential mechanisms for future research. ii Dedication For Elizabeth, Charlotte, & Mom iii Acknowledgments Andrew Butz wishes to thank the following people & organizations for their support of this research: Damon Becker & family Jessica Lamb S. David Butz Robert Liebman I. Jane Butz William A. Long & family Keith & Pam Ehrensing Maureen Morrison Long April Mayers Sam Adams of Portland, Oregon Paul Nielsen Sy Adler Leonard Oakland Dean C. Amadon Tony Obradovich Bo Bartlett Tammy Paladeni Andrea Blazak-Barrios Kerry J. Pataki Nathan Butz & family K. Michelle Pendley Jose O. Calderon Portland Community College Clare Chevalier Armin V. Quilici & family Erika Collins Kristy & Tony Rodriguez Jean Delmonico & Bob Hibbing Chris Root Justin Denny Julie Schlemmer Chris Dugan Jeremy Wilson Band Russell Duren Carl Winter Marvin & Barbara Eby First Unitarian Portland Ethan Edwards Shirlee Geiger Anne Saker Stephen Greene University of British Columbia Charlotte Hales Jennifer Chun Andrea Hinze Amy Hanser KBOO Community Radio David Tindall Kickstarter.com Rima Wilkes Stephen P. Knight Dan Zuberi iv Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………. i Dedication…………………………………………………………………….. iii Acknowledgments ……………………………………………………………. iv List of Tables …………………………………………………………………. vi List of Figures ………………………………………………………………… vii Chapter I INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter II THEORY & LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………………. 10 Chapter III Movements & Media Opportunity Structure: AN ADAPTED RESEARCH MODEL ………………………………………. 66 Chapter IV METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………………………. 75 Chapter V RESULTS ……………………………………………………………………... 89 Chapter VI CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………….. 107 References …………………………………………………………………….. 122 Appendix A. Transnational Social Movements ……………………………… 133 Appendix B. The Sample (n=60) ……………………………………………… 134 Appendix C. Sample Coding Glossaries ………………………………………. 136 Appendix D. Coding Templates ……………………………………………….. 138 Appendix E. Summary Data (Code Sheets) ……………………………………. 141 Appendix F. Pilot Study ………………………………………………………... 145 v List of Tables Table 1. The Sample, n = 60 ………………………………………………….... 91 Table 2. Story Headlines & Photos …………………………………………….. 92 Table 3. Headlines & Captions: Collective Action Component Frequencies …………….…………………….... 92 Table 4. Headline-Story Disagreement ………………………………………… 93 Table 5. Attribution Frequencies: Source Type by Protest News Sample ……... 95 Table 6. News Sources & Unsourced Portrayals ……………………………….. 96 Table 7. Attribution Frequencies: Source Type by Preferred Commercial-Government Perspective ……………… 98 Table 8. Dominant Perspective in Story ………………………………………… 99 Table 9. Portrayal of Activists: Collective Action Frame (C.A.F.) Components ………………………………… 101 (Frequency of C.A.F./Path X Components by Commercial-Gov. Perspective) Table 10. Frequency of Complete Collective Action Frames …………………... 101 Table 11. Portrayal of Activists: Dispersed Passivity Frame (D.P.F.) Components ………………………………. 103 (Frequency of D.P.F./Path Y Components by Commercial-Gov. Perspective) Table 12. Ratio of Collective Action to Dispersed Passivity Frame Components ………… 104 Table 13. Portrayals of Rational SM Actors …………………………………….. 105 Table 14. Commercially-Framed Activism .…………………………………….. 106 Table 15. Selling Protest? Summary Framing Advantages ……..………………. 108 (An enabling Media Opportunity Structure) Table 16. Under-selling Protest? Summary Framing Disadvantages ………….... 111 (A constraining Media Opportunity Structure) vi List of Figures Figure 1. ADAPTED RESEARCH MODEL …………………………………. 74 Figure 2. NEWS STORY CODING TEMPLATE ……………………………. 84 vii Chapter I I N T R O D U C T I O N 1 A Story of Two Protests Are anti-systemic protest occupations on the Left and on the Right comparably covered by major media outlets? This study explores how social movement (SM) messages and claims are framed within commercial news. Any SM, especially if anti- systemic or if anti-corporate, has only partial frame setting agency, which points to the core theoretical question. Seeing SMs and media as interacting systems, 1) are news frames and framing1 more media- or more movement-driven; and 2) do media at times constrain SMs as much as they enable them? With these underlying questions, a comparative discourse analysis will also ask how commercial news – shown by coverage of ideologically opposed or distant twin occupations – may “sell protest”; and so this study can offer broad movement-and-media framing research insights. With Occupy Wall Street in 2011 (OWS) on the left and Malheur Refuge Occupation in 2016 (MRO) on the right, both protests encamped in Oregon (or beyond for OWS) for roughly 40 days before final evictions. Despite contradictory goals, of anti- corporate OWS and anti-government MRO, their occupation strategies and duration were similar. So, beyond their opposing protest cultures (small, armed rightwing MRO vs. large, unarmed left-leaning OWS), were their news frames relatively comparable? Or do imbalances or inconsistencies external to the basic OWS-MRO protest culture differences (see below) perhaps reflect larger institutional patterns of commercial news? From such questions, this study develops a model and research design in Chapters II – III, to conduct an innovative news discourse analysis whose findings in Chapters IV – V may contribute theoretically and methodologically to future research. 1 interpretive schema and meaning construction processes (also see Chapter II, Part A, section 1) 2 To briefly review the two protests’ overlapping stories: OWS and MRO had roughly 40-day, anti-systemic occupations in Oregon (60-day at some other OWS sites), accompanied by extensive online or social media activism – and considerable national/ international news coverage. They established unauthorized encampment occupations that, while