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AbstractThis article provides a broad, cross‐disciplinary overview of scholarship which has explored the dynamics between social movements, protests and their coverage by mainstream media across sociology, social movement studies, political science and media and communications. Two general approaches are identified 'representational' and 'relational' research. 'Representational' scholarship is that which has concerned itself with how social movements are portrayed or 'framed' in the media, how the media production process facilitates this, and the consequences thereof. 'Relational' scholarship concentrates on the asymmetrical 'relationship' between social movements, the contestation of media representation and the media strategies of social movements. Within these two broad approaches different perspectives and areas of emphasis are highlighted along with their strengths and weaknesses. The conclusion reflects on current developments in this area of study and offers avenues for future research.

Abstract
International meetings such as the G8 Summit have evolved from the sequestered gatherings of the economic elite to full-scale political media events. Dominant approaches to such events are often text-centered, focusing on the media's framing of protest and overlooking the actions and interactions at such sites. However, media events must also be examined from the perspectives of those involved in the event. Accordingly, a mediation approach is proposed to analyze the media practices of the Dissent! Network at the 2005 G8 Summit and specifically, Hori-Zone eco-village. After qualifying the G8 Summit as a media event, Hori-Zone is established as a site inside the media event. Protests launched from the camp are then analyzed, arguing that their position inside the media event transforms them from direct action into spectacular action. The conclusion reiterates the importance and implications of understanding political media events from the perspective of those inside the media event.

AbstractThe research method of participant observation has long been used by scholars interested in the motivations, dynamics, tactics and strategies of social movements from a movement perspective. Despite participant observation being a common research method, there have been very few efforts to bring together this literature, which has often been spread across disciplines. This makes it difficult to identify the various challenges (and their interrelation) facing participant observers. Consequently, this article first reviews how participant observation roles have been conceptualised in general and then draws specific links to how the method has been used in the study of activism and social movements. In doing so, this article brings together key academic debates on participant observation, which have been considered separately, such as insider/outsider and overt/covert, but not previously been brought together.

In January 2009, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) denied a request from the Disaster's Emergency Committee (DEC) to broadcast an emergency appeal to relieve human suffering in Gaza in the wake of the Israeli ground offensive 'Cast Lead'. The decision marked the first time in the over 40-year relationship between the two organisations that a request was refused by the BBC, but an appeal went ahead. BBC Executives argued that airing the appeal could pose a threat to public confidence in the BBC's impartiality. This article, both descriptive and exploratory in scope, first reconstructs a chronology of this 'impartiality argument', providing a detailed overview of the key players, the (historical) relationship between them, and the run-up to and aftermath of the BBC's decision. The second part of the article analyses the BBC's denial of the DEC request and explores how the BBC's concerns over impartiality articulate its new 'wagon wheel' approach to impartiality. Finally, the authors study the BBC's decision and the – rekindled – centrality of impartiality within the context of the BBC being increasingly bound by the nature of its brand and the visibility of the Middle East conflict.

AbstractThis study's exhaustive content analysis (N = 538) examines how Canada's mainstream news media covered the nascent yellow vest movement from the first Canadian protests in December 2018 culminating in the February 2019 cross‐country United We Roll convoy. We demonstrate that Protest Paradigm scholarship does not offer a useful analytic for understanding the coverage of this right‐wing social movement whose tactics were banal and law abiding. Furthermore, we argue that Canadian news media coverage of the protest movement was largely uncritical and decidedly hegemonic, raising questions about normative watchdog conceptions of the news media in Canadian democracy.

The 2010 release of US embassy diplomatic cables put WikiLeaks into the international spotlight. Revelations by the leaks sparked intense debate within international diplomacy, journalism and society. This book reflects on the implications of WikiLeaks across politics and media, and on the results of leak journalism and transparency activism

In recent times, international and national media have been full of stories about protest movements and tumultuous social upheaval from Tunisia to California. But scholars have not yet fully addressed the connection between these movements and the media and communication channels through which their messages spread. Correcting that imbalance, Mediation and Protest Movements explores the nature of the relationship between protest movements, media representation, and communication strategies and tactics. By covering online and offline contexts, as well as mainstream and alternative media, Mediation and Protest Movements bridges the gap between social-movement theory and media and communication studies, making this an important text for students and scholars of the media and social change

From Tahrir Square to St Paul's Cathedral, from the Red Shirts in Thailand to the Teachers in Oaxaca, protest camps are a highly visible feature of activism, where people come together to imagine alternative worlds and articulate contentious politics, often in confrontation with the state. Examining over fifty protest camps over the past fifty years, this book offers a ground-breaking investigation into protest camps from a global perspective - a story that, until now, has remained untold

Revelations published by the whistleblower platform WikiLeaks, including the releases of U.S. diplomatic cables in what became referred to as 'Cablegate', put WikiLeaks into the international spotlight and sparked intense about the role and impact of leaks in a digital era. "Beyond WikiLeaks" opens a space to reflect on the broader implications across political and media fields, and on the transformations that result from new forms of leak journalism and transparency activism. A select group of renowned scholars, international experts, and WikiLeaks 'insiders' discuss the consequences of the WikiLeaks saga for traditional media, international journalism, freedom of expression, policymaking, civil society, social change, and international politics. From short insider reports to elaborate and theoretically informed academic texts, the different chapters provide critical assessments of the current historical juncture of our mediatized society and offer outlooks of the future. Authors include, amongst others, Harvard University's Yochai Benkler, Graham Murdoch of Loughborough University, net activism scholar, Gabriella Coleman, the Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Jillian York, and "Guardian" editor, Chris Elliott. The book also includes a conversation between philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, and WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, and its prologue is written by Birgitta J̤nsd̤ttir, Icelandic MP and editor of the WikiLeaks video, `Collateral Murder`.

Recently protest camps have emerged around the world as a highly visible form of protest. Part and parcel of new social movement activism for over 40 years, they are important sites and catalysts for identity creation, expression, political contention and incubators for social change. While research has punctually addressed individual camps, there is lack of comparative and comprehensive research that links historic and contemporary protest camps as a unique area of interdisciplinary study. Research on the phenomenon to date has remained punctual and case based. This paper proposes to study protest camps as a distinct new field of research in social movement studies. Existing literature is critically reviewed and framed in three thematic clusters of spatiality, affect and autonomy. On the basis of this review the paper develops a research approach based on the analysis of infrastructures used to make protest camps. We contest that an infrastructural analysis highlights protest camps as a unique organizational form and transcends the limits of case-based research while respecting the varying contexts and trajectories of protest camps.