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/lp/university-of-chicago-press/striking-news-discursive-power-of-the-press-as-capitalist-resource-in-n03x8CSWBw
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Copyright
- © 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
- ISSN
- 0002-9602
- eISSN
- 1537-5390
- DOI
- 10.1086/719424
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
Does mass media discourse influence material outcomes of contentious social movement events? The authors address this enduring puzzle by developing a discursive power resource theory of the press that centers press coverage valence of strikes within the coemergence of the labor movement and mass commercial print media. Employing unique data and probability models, the authors examine the impact of negative coverage in three forms (lagged context, contemporaneous context, event focused) from two leading New York newspapers (Sun and Times) on strike outcomes during Gilded Age class contention. They find compelling evidence that negative coverage amplifies the likelihood of strike failure by disproportionately serving as a contention resource for capital. Evidence also suggests form, press political perspective, and movement intensity contingencies in how press influences work. The authors highlight theoretical implications for the role of media in social movement outcomes, power resource theory, soft repression in class formation, the public sphere, and corporate media.
Journal
American Journal of Sociology – University of Chicago Press
Published: Mar 1, 2022