Social Movements, ratings, shock value
objectives by swaying a certain target group's ideologies. Some groups try to directly influence a small group of individuals such as decision makers while others use more indirect means such as broadcasting their views to reach a wide range of individuals. During the 1960s and 1970s, the rise of the New Left in America resulted in a rise in activism that bordered on various subjects that were of interest at the time (Benford and Snow 612). Reforms that new Left activist pursued included abortion, gender disparity and gay rights. At this time, various groups also sprung up to question the structure of race as it stood at the time. During the Late 1960s until mid to late 1970 several notable militant ethnic groups existed in the United States. They include: the American Indian Movement, the Brown Berets, the Black Panthers, and the Red Guards. This group all had different areas of focus and tried to influence different audiences to their agenda. The success enjoyed by these militant ethnic groups mainly differed due to how the groups interacted with the social media.
The media has enormous power to shape social events. As early as the invention of the printing press, different groups have competed either for support or control of the agents responsible for information distribution (Barker 12). Agents responsible for providing information to people have a lot of power which seem to grow as life becomes more complex and the average individual has more access to information. The media has an interdependent relationship with social movements.
Social movements are always looking for the media to air their opinions and grievances while the media is looking for ratings, shock value or just the next big story. The interdependence however favors the media as they have access to millions of other interesting story while social movement organizations usually lack the capability to purchase services offered by free media exposure. The media can select what they cover however, social movement groups have to take what they can get while also take care about what is portrayed in the media.
[...] The issue of racialism was a sore point at this time and the Black Panther mission well in line with the thoughts of the majority. The American Indian Movement was also active during this time and their main grievance was on the issue of the Native American urban community. The group has its origin in Minneapolis but by the 1970, the group had support in many parts of America as well as Canada. During the 1960s efforts to contain the damage inflicted on the American Indians were initiated by both President John Kennedy as well as Lyndon Johnson (Bayler 242). [...]
[...] "Brown Berets: A Story of Continuous Surveillance". European Journal of Social Sciences (2011): 454-458. Zald, Mayer and John McCarthy. Social Movements in an Organizational Society. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1987. [...]
[...] The party was mainly a street youth party that only existed for four years. The party was mainly structured just like the then popular Blank Panther as well as the Red Guard in China. Their brief lifespan was mainly due to their insistence on paramilitary force (Davenport 82). The group referred itself as an army and not a social movement and thus was treated by the media and the rest of America as an offshoot of the Chinese military force. [...]
[...] During the Late 1960s until mid to late 1970 several notable militant ethnic groups existed in the United States. They include: the American Indian Movement, the Brown Berets, the Black Panthers, and the Red Guards. This group all had different areas of focus and tried to influence different audiences to their agenda. The success enjoyed by these militant ethnic groups mainly differed due to how the groups interacted with the social media. The media has enormous power to shape social events. [...]
[...] The way these actions are portrayed by the media is important in engaging the public as well as creating a feedback loop between the government and its citizens. The public has a very small attention span, shifting between issues randomly. Whether disregard originates from discouragement, economy or sheer boredom, each has crucial significance to social movement groups. The groups have a small time with which to convey their information and thus need the help of the media during this small period. The media mainly helps these groups through: rallying political support, legitimizing the group among in mainstream discussions, and to expand the range of conflicts. [...]
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