Media coverage of civil unrest

Media Coverage of Civil Unrest is the attention given to certain collective behaviors such as mobs or riots by certain media, such as news reports on television, newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets. A civil disorder can be described as aggressive disruptions which violate civil law. More specifically, a mob can be described as a highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal. In relation, a riot is a social eruption that is highly emotional, violent, and undirected.

What makes civil unrest worthy of news coverage?
Certain events are emphasized while others are neglected by a significant portion of the media. Here are some factors that influence news coverage of an incident of civil unrest:
*Event Intensity
:As one would imagine, events on a large scale are more likely to be covered by the media than smaller events. To be more specific, violence is connected with the likelihood of events being covered. Events in which someone dies has a better chance of being noted. As the number of deaths increases, so does the chance of that incident getting coverage in media outlets. This is also true in regard to injuries. Basically, the more injuries that occur during a demonstration, the greater media attention. There are also similar links with the amount of arrests, duration of the act, and arson committed. To look at it from the other side, nonviolent protests are far less likely to be reported in the news.
*Distance
:Newspapers and local news stations are less likely to report incidents of civil unrest that occur far away from them. This may be because they are less aware of them and these events are less important to their respective audiences. Also, the smaller organizations may lack the resources and manpower to investigate these events. Because major newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post are located on the east coast of the US, the highest coverage of civil disturbances are clustered on the east coast and coverage generally decreases as you move toward the west coast.
*City Demographics
:More coverage is given to events that occur in metropolitan areas with large populations. In addition to this, the greater the African American population in these areas, the more news coverage occurs. Riot and mob coverage is also more likely in areas with a low average income and a high unemployment rate.
*Notoriety or Significance of Actor
:The group of people involved with the incident of civil unrest influences the media coverage. People of notoriety or political significance that are involved in these incidents increase the likelihood of that event being reported. A more specific example of this is the fact that major newspapers tend to neglect events of civil unrest involving high school students and tend to favor those events involving college students. This may be because the press views high school students as lacking a political purpose.
*Day of the Week
:On slow news days, events involving civil unrest are more likely to be covered in the news. Because Mondays are usually slower news days and Fridays are heavier newsdays, reports of civil unrest are more likely to occur early in the week.
*Issues of the Times
:As social, political, and economical issues gain notoriety and attention, the acts of civil unrest associated with them gain more coverage by the media.
*Volume of Events
:When many newsworthy events occur, chances of being covered by the media decrease. Only the most unusual and extreme events will be reported heavily by the media.
*Political Position of News Carrier
:Media companies that report the news sometimes have tendencies to lean towards either a conservative or liberal viewpoint. These companies can then in turn leave out or emphasize certain events that benefit their ideas.

How media coverage affects the public's perception of Civil Unrest
The coverage of riots and mobs can have a role in molding the way the public perceives the world around them. There are biases that can result from the coverage of events of civil unrest in the news. News coverage can distort the view that people have on normal mobs and riots. Because the news generally only covers intense and violent outbreaks, this can exaggerate the circumstances of normal civil episodes. Also, as an event appears in higher level media sources such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, or CNN, the event is considered more important by the general public. Media can also have an effect on public opinion by agenda setting. Issues that receive greater attention become the main events and issues that are in the public's mind. Riots and mobs can be used by society as a catalyst to promote social and political change.

A current example
In the recent French riots there was a report of a TV news executive censoring riot coverage. Jean-Claude Dassier, an executive for the French news service LCI(La Chaîne Info), had said that "the prominence given to the rioters on international news networks had been 'excessive' and could even be fanning flames of the violence." The censoring was said to been caused by the "fear of encouraging support for far-right politicians." There has been some criticism toward the French media for the supposed lack of coverage of the riots. This question asked by French editor Patrick Lecocq sums the issue up well, "Do we send teams of journalists because cars are burning, or are the cars burning because we sent teams of journalists?"

Web sources and links
*Median Guardian.co.uk Riot coverage "excessive", says French TV Boss
*Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia- Public Opinion

Other resources
*Myers, Daniel J. and Caniglia, Beth Schaefer. All the Rioting That's Fit to Print: Selection Effects in National Newspaper Coverage of Civil Disorders, 1968-1969. American Sociological Review69. Aug 2004
*Macionis, John J. Sociology. 10th Edition. New Jersey. Prentice Hall. 2005.

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