How Bizarre: The Strategic Ambiguity of Consumer Protection in Financialized Capitalism

• In Event: Consumers and Consumption Section Open Call Paper Session

Abstract

We examine the processes that facilitated the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a governmental agency that aims to protect consumers from unfair, abusive, and deceptive practices. Using an original dataset of over 6,000 texts that include not only CFPB communications but also articles published by five large mass media outlets (New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC) and governmental bodies related to CFPB (The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, The Urban Affairs, and the House Committee on Financial Services) we investigate the frames developed by various collective actors to either legitimize or delegitimize CFPB. Preliminary results suggest that Fox News coverage of the CFPB has become more polarized over time, with fewer alternative viewpoints and more consistent negative commentary. In addition, the strategies used in each period differed; these differences reflect the circumstances of the specific event and the political discourse landscape of conservative news media at the time. In addition, guests became more polarized and less frequent, reflecting a greater insularity of discussion about the CFPB over time. Themes also show how Fox News speakers used strategic ambiguity to avoid attacking the publicly well-liked CFPB directly while sowing questions of dissent.

Authors

• Ion Bogdan Vasi, University of Iowa

• Del Weinstock, University of Iowa

• Levi Sands, University of Iowa