News from the Noninstitutional world: U.S. and Canadian television news coverage of social protest

Abstract

Although news coverage of protest is a necessary component to a protest movement's survival or growth, the way protest is covered can legitimate or delegitimate a protest movement. This article's perspective argues that television news coverage of protest is shaped by the degree of dissent from elite or institutional parameters. The data presented here look at protest on U.S. and Canadian national news programs. The data support the idea that the tone of news coverage depends on the protest's relationship to institutional interests. For domestic issues, the degree of debate among elites shapes the extent and tone of news coverage. The tone of coverage of protests in other countries tends to correspond with the government's foreign policy toward both the foreign government and protest movements. Canadian news coverage is more likely to give greater credence to protest and to the issues that protesters raise.