International Media Standing: Media Coverage of Europe’s Anti-austerity Movement

• In Event: 156 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Cultural Politics and Media Framing

Abstract

Students of social movements have long recognized the power of media coverage in helping grassroots groups achieve their goals, but most studies of the media’s relationship with social movements focus on the local rather than the transnational. It is not yet known how this process plays out when the media outlet is based in one country and the conflict playing out in another. Globalization opens up new potential allies and avenues of resources for social movements, and one such resource may be the international media. This study applies Gamson’s concept of media standing (2001) to the European anti-austerity movement. A content analysis of 4,496 quotes published in the New York Times indicates that the ability to achieve media standing is heavily determined by institutional status, with bureaucratic elites receiving disproportionate coverage. While the grassroots anti-austerity movement did achieve moderate media standing in the Times, austerity still became continental policy, which indicates international media actors have limited power to influence outcomes. I conclude with implications for social movement theory and directions for future research.

Author

• Matthew Schoene, Albion College