Protest or Riot?: Media Reporting of Protest

• In Event: Police, Police Shootings, and Perceptions

Abstract

The media influences how we perceive the actions of individuals. For example, when Michael Brown was shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri news sources reported the actions taken by the citizens of Ferguson and supporters across the nation as riots. This trend to classify the actions of the individuals as riots instead of protests or peaceful protest [when applicable] has continued with each new shooting of a black individual. For example, WQAD, a Midwestern news source, titled a news release as “Riots continue in Ferguson after anniversary of Michael Brown’s death” (Lamansky 2015). This language is in stark comparison to the language used when a group of white individuals’ protest. For example, following Penn State’s Big Ten win a number of individuals crowded the streets. The headline for the CBS Sports page headlining these actions was “State College parties its tail off after Penn State’s Big Ten title win” (Patterson 2016). Other examples include reporting surrounding the San Francisco Giants win of the World Series in 2014. Reuters called it “fans taking to the streets” (Carroll 2014) and the San Francisco Chronicle headline read “40 arrests, two shootings in Giants fan revelry” (Aleaziz and Lee 2014).

Authors

• LeAnn N Cabage, Iowa State University

• Kimberly D Dodson, University of Houston - Clear Lake