Mass-Mediated Protest Music and Mobilization: Synthesizing the Civil Sphere’s EMM-Framing Theory

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONI remember when I was little, my Dad-who was particularly anti-war-played this song for me depicting the night during World War I...Christmas Eve. And the soldiers...decided to have a truce. And they all have this... party and they're showing pictures of their families. And they're sharing drinks....And then the night ends and they go back to their trenches. And the next day they are all killing each other again. And my Dad was very, very moved by this song and played for me and was crying. And I remember... thinking that was an incredible song...but also being touched that touched him. (Sarah-Activist, Focus Group Interview 9/26/09)This focus group interview is part of a larger media study in which I explore a perceived decline in the U.S. collective discourse-the diminishing presence of music in the American mainstream media post 9/11. To examine this in more depth, I have thus far compiled and analyzed an original database of more than 3,600 songs that were commercially released in the United States from 1961-2011, tracking information such as the songs' popularity or the popularity of the albums on which they appeared, the record companies that produced these recordings, the number of cover versions of the songs, etc. I also interviewed artists, DJs, media researchers, and music critics, as well as conducted focus groups with activists. The research surveyed changes in the media landscape over the last fifty years and I became immersed in political economy of the media, production of culture, and technological media innovations' literatures. Yet, I also sought a theoretical and empirical framework that could answer the more weighty question about protest music's real impact: How can the presence of mass-mediated protest music affect mobilization efforts for progressive social change overall? Sarah's story illuminates three points about mass-mediated popular culture's ability to promote social change which I believe are critically important in answering this question.First, although an obvious point, bears highlighting: Social changeoriented mass-mediated popular culture can reach broad publics._John McCuthcheon's in the Trenches from the 1984 album, Winter Solstice, never made to the top of the Billboard charts, but garnered radio play both domestically and internationally. And even decades after its release, possesses cultural staying power in a variety of mass media formats. It has its own Wikipedia page, relating the song's genesis and the true story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 that occurred between British and German troops who were fighting along the Western Front. Also, many YouTube videos of the song can be found, totaling hundreds of thousands of hits.1 By Sarah's own admission, we know that her father was not particularly anti-war and we can assume that he did seek out protest music as a genre of interest. Instead, the song somehow found him, illustrating the dissemination power of massmediated popular culture.Second, can have powerful emotive, moral, and mnemonic framing effects on people. Sarah's childhood experience demonstrates how deeply this song was engrained in her memory. Her recollection also emphasizes the emotive and moral impact that protest music can elicit. She remembers her father ciying while taking in the song's moral message and recalls it was an incredible song.Third, has the potential to mobilize the general public in support of movement goals. Relating back to Sarah's story, we are privy to impact that the song may have had on her father. Even though he was not particularly anti-war, could be conjectured that the song prompted him (in tandem with numerous other cultural media inputs and personal experiences) into a deeper questioning of war-possibly leading to shifts in his opinion, his voting preferences, or even moving him to engage in some type of social movement action-like the simple act of signing a petition-that all leaned towards a less-hawkish position. …