Media, Mobilization, and Human Rights: Mediating SufferingTristan Anne Borer What impact do mass media portrayals of atrocities have on activism? Why do these news stories sometimes mobilize people, while at other times they are met with indifference? Do different forms of media have greater or lesser impacts on mobilization? These are just some of the questions addressed in Media, Mobilization, and Human Rights, which investigates the assumption that exposure to human rights violations in countries far away causes people to respond with activism. Turning a critical eye on existing scholarship, which argues either that viewing and reading about violence can serve as a force for good (through increased activism) or as a source of evil (by objectifying and exploiting the victims of violence), the authors argue that reality is far more complex, and that there is nothing inherently positive or negative about exposure to the suffering of others. In exploring this, the book offers an array of case studies: from human rights reporting in Mexican newspapers to the impact of media imagery on humanitarian intervention in Somalia; from the influence of celebrity activism to the growing role of social media. By examining a variety of media forms, from television and radio to social networking, the interdisciplinary set of authors present radical new ways of thinking about the intersection of media portrayals of human suffering and activist responses to them. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 30
Page 5
... exposure to the suffering of others sometimes leads to action to end it , while at other times ordinary people remain unmoved , complacent , and politically disengaged . States , the media , and humanitarian intervention Both states 5.
... exposure to the suffering of others sometimes leads to action to end it , while at other times ordinary people remain unmoved , complacent , and politically disengaged . States , the media , and humanitarian intervention Both states 5.
Page 6
... remains highly contested , most scholars no longer question whether a state has the right to intervene ; rather , the question has increasingly become why they choose to intervene to stop abuses in some places but not others ( see , for ...
... remains highly contested , most scholars no longer question whether a state has the right to intervene ; rather , the question has increasingly become why they choose to intervene to stop abuses in some places but not others ( see , for ...
Page 7
... remains most closely associated with 1992-93 Somalia and it has since lost some of its explanatory power . After all , for every 1992 Somalia , there was a 1994 Rwanda ; for every 1999 Kosovo , there was a 1993 Sarajevo ; for every 2011 ...
... remains most closely associated with 1992-93 Somalia and it has since lost some of its explanatory power . After all , for every 1992 Somalia , there was a 1994 Rwanda ; for every 1999 Kosovo , there was a 1993 Sarajevo ; for every 2011 ...
Page 12
... remains a strong pull on peoples ' identities , making it difficult to overcome apathy toward distant suffering . It is precisely this question – what role the media can play in ' in- filtrating people's everyday lives with emotionally ...
... remains a strong pull on peoples ' identities , making it difficult to overcome apathy toward distant suffering . It is precisely this question – what role the media can play in ' in- filtrating people's everyday lives with emotionally ...
Page 19
... remains ' improvisational . ' In general , in Mexico , the determination of the newsworthiness of human rights news came down to a combination of factors ; the stories must contain violations and be novel , exclusive , impactful ...
... remains ' improvisational . ' In general , in Mexico , the determination of the newsworthiness of human rights news came down to a combination of factors ; the stories must contain violations and be novel , exclusive , impactful ...
Contents
1 | |
cultural remembrance and the reading of Somalia as Vietnam | 42 |
artistic media and the dream of a culture without borders | 67 |
a case study of Mexican newspapers | 96 |
4 Framing strategies for economic and social rights in the United States | 122 |
shock media and human rights awareness campaigns | 143 |
6 Celebrity diplomats as mobilizers? Celebrities and activism in a hypermediated time | 181 |
social medias emerging role in activism | 205 |
8 The spectacle of suffering and humanitarian intervention in Somalia | 216 |
About the contributors | 240 |
Index | 243 |
Other editions - View all
Media, Mobilization and Human Rights: Mediating Suffering Tristan Anne Borer No preview available - 2012 |
Media, Mobilization, and Human Rights: Mediating Suffering Tristan Anne Borer No preview available - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
action advertising Africa American argues atrocities audience awareness Barack Obama Biafra blog Bono campaign cause celebrity diplomats chapter Chouliaraki CNN Effect compassion fatigue cosmopolitan crises critical critique Darfur debate Deogratias discourse distant suffering economic aims economic and social editors example Facebook famine female genital cutting framing strategies George Clooney George H. W. Bush global Goražde graphic HR PSAs HR shock PSAs human rights abuses human rights coverage human rights reporting human rights violations humanitarian intervention ibid images individuals issue Jagger journalism journalistic aims Marjane Satrapi Mexican newspapers Mexico mobilization Moeller Moore and Galloway narrative newsworthiness NGOs Nicholas Kristof Obama op-ed organizations petition photographs Print protest readers refugees response rights ethos role shock media slacktivism Slovic social media social rights society soldiers Somalia spectacle of suffering story television tion United University Press victims viewers violence visual Western WikiLeaks women York YouTube