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
Page vii
... issues surrounding this topic. First and foremost, therefore, I wish to thank my students. Their intellectual engagement with the issues in this book has continually pushed me to hone and refine my ideas. Being their teacher has made me ...
... issues surrounding this topic. First and foremost, therefore, I wish to thank my students. Their intellectual engagement with the issues in this book has continually pushed me to hone and refine my ideas. Being their teacher has made me ...
Page 11
... issue dealt with in Tristan Anne Borer's chapter, as will be described below. Before delving into that, however, two other explanations for what Slovic calls 'mass murder and genocide neglect' will be reviewed. Impediments to ...
... issue dealt with in Tristan Anne Borer's chapter, as will be described below. Before delving into that, however, two other explanations for what Slovic calls 'mass murder and genocide neglect' will be reviewed. Impediments to ...
Page 15
... issue. The remaining chapters of this book examine either news productionrelated issues or audience reception issues, and how they help make sense of why knowledge does not always result in action. News production – the first half of ...
... issue. The remaining chapters of this book examine either news productionrelated issues or audience reception issues, and how they help make sense of why knowledge does not always result in action. News production – the first half of ...
Page 17
... issue generally referred to as 'framing.' A prior media production issue, however, is whether distant crises are even covered at all. After all, people cannot respond to something they know nothing about. The question of how human ...
... issue generally referred to as 'framing.' A prior media production issue, however, is whether distant crises are even covered at all. After all, people cannot respond to something they know nothing about. The question of how human ...
Page 19
... issue that has long interested media sociologists. Moeller quotes Carroll Bogert, a foreign correspondent for Newsweek (who is also a former acting foreign editor there), as saying that what was covered 'has to do with the predilections ...
... issue that has long interested media sociologists. Moeller quotes Carroll Bogert, a foreign correspondent for Newsweek (who is also a former acting foreign editor there), as saying that what was covered 'has to do with the predilections ...
Contents
| 1 | |
| 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
abuses action activism activists advertising Africa aims American appeal argues asked atrocities attention audience awareness become called campaign cause celebrity chapter compassion cover coverage create critical cultural Darfur death debate described economic editors effect efforts engagement example experience face fact famine feel force foreign framing framing strategies global graphic human rights humanitarian ibid images important individuals interest intervention issue journalism journalists Kristof literature lives mass means mission mobilization moral movement newspapers notes organizations particular photographs political position practices Press Print produce protest provides question readers referred remain reporting represent response result role says shock shock PSAs social media society soldiers Somalia specific spectacle story Studies suffering television texts tion traditional United University victims Vietnam violations violence Western witness women York