Mutiny on the Bay: Investigating the Presentation of the Scott Olsen Police Assault on the Websites of San Francisco Bay Area Local Television Stations

Abstract

In the fall of 2011, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests emerged, becoming a global movement. In the United States, the Occupy Oakland demonstrations witnessed instances of violence, most notably in the injury of Scott Olsen, an Occupy Oakland supporter and former U.S. Marine who was struck by a police projectile. This article investigates the presentation of the Olsen injury on the websites of five major local television stations in the San Francisco Bay area, as a way to illustrate the negative coverage of dissident social movement activists, even when they are former military veterans, a group treated respectfully in the media. In this case, Olsen’s presence created a conflict in the application of the themes and devices composing the “protest paradigm.” The findings of this study suggest the existence of a “patriotism paradigm,” a news treatment that neutralizes the credibility of individuals or groups seeking a claim to the positive associations of patriotism and military service of the post-9/11 United States, and can allow news treatments such as the “protest paradigm” to exist without being contradicted.