Abstract
Using Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur's Media System Dependency (MSD) theory that during times of conflict the public looks to the media to answer questions ease uncertainty and effect outcomes, this paper will analyze televised images of the U.S. Civil Rights movement and their impact on demonstrations during the Northern Ireland conflict. Matthew Loveless, discussing media effects, said, The theory of media dependency states that for societies in states of crisis or instability, citizens are more reliant on mass media for information and as such are more susceptible to their effects. Douglas Blanks Hindman studying media system dependency before and after the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., cites Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, saying, The media system dependency model suggests that under conditions of ambiguity, as in the case of social system disruptions resulting from natural or human-made disasters, the mass media will become the public's primary information source, and media effects will become more pronounced. This paper will examine information dissemination (televised images of U.S. Civil Rights marches) as a source of power influencing public perception in Northern Ireland and showing street marches an effective form of demonstration, and will specifically focus on televised news coverage of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and their influence on demonstrations in Northern Ireland, 1968-69. Marching as a demonstration technique, mediasavvy leaders and the singing of We Shall Overcome will be explored through documented news coverage and anecdotal research.
Highlights
Television news broadcasts allow audiences in one part of the world to be aware of and participate in happenings around the globe
This paper will examine information dissemination as a source of power influencing public perception in Northern Ireland and showing street marches an effective form of demonstration, and will focus on televised news coverage of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and their influence on demonstrations in Northern Ireland, 1968-69
The power and reach of global media subsequently enabled broadcast images of the U.S movement for equality to play an important role in the civil rights movement of Northern Ireland
Summary
Television news broadcasts allow audiences in one part of the world to be aware of and participate in happenings around the globe. This research will attempt to show that the media images of the Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965, broadcast into Northern Ireland, added to the leadership’s understanding of dissent practices and contributed to the average citizen’s hope that achieving civil rights through public demonstration was possible. It will illustrate the replication of movement tactics, slogans and songs and the referential use of the image of Martin Luther King as a symbol of the cause. J Mass Communicat Journalism 4: 200. doi:10.4172/2165-7192.1000200 media for information and visible examples of protest tactics and results [2]
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