why protests?

Dave and I have been lamenting that most of the protests covered are more often hugely symbolic than effective. I happened to be learning the topic of media accounts of protests in a recent political communication class. Here are some findings and reflections.

Apparently, protests are only mostly effective in mobilizing greater public support when

1. There is good spectacle, visual rich material that (preferably) disrupts the normality of life. Some radical groups choose violence or terrorism to publicize their causes.

2. The protestors’ message and conditions are known.

It is simply easy to gaze at pictures of coverage and attempt to empathize, but sympathy is only heightened when the cause for fighting is known.

Most of the time, mainstream media do not report the protests, if they perceive the issue as not in the mass majority interests i.e. the protestors are subordinate groups.

If the mainstream media accounts do take an interest in the issue, they would often report the activity itself, but fail to elaborate on the fight. This misrepresentation or lack of representation does not create the impact desired by the protestors.
Good news management (self-releasing reliable information) and alliance with celebrities or the media is crucial to secure a greater voice and of course, coverage.

So if you’re wondering why our blog documents protests, here are a few reasons:

1. To bring to light the protestors’ message/objectives and conditions, historical background, reasons, passions; in an attempt to inform readers about unreported [in mainstream media] concerns of the public.

2. To capture the emotions in pictures,
done by our wonderful photographer Dave and documentary extraordinaire (if not budding) Lutfi

Why do we need to know about protests, you may ask?
“Their injustice is not my cause,”, you shrug.

Well, the mainstream media tends to cater to us as consumers, displaying information they think we ought to know, rather than to voice our concerns as participants of a democratic public sphere. We have actually been, and are being increasingly conditioned to not realize our rights to democracy. Sure we have the right to protest—a democratic right in itself, but is it a true right if the concerns are not heard or considered?

I’m pretty sure we are all prepared to fight for more than one cause.
So while we uncover stories (by covering stories), we hope that a greater awareness of certain issues will help us turn symbolism into reality.  

Picture above courtesy of pictureisunrelated.com