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Less than Expected? How Media Cover Demonstration Turnout.
Ruud Wouters1, Kirsten Van Camp2
1University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The International Journal of Press/Politics
|October 31, 2017
Summary
Media coverage of demonstration size often presents turnout as fact, not contention. Despite limited media attention, coverage does not marginalize protests, instead following normalization practices based on event importance and estimate discrepancies.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Media Studies
- Sociology of Social Movements
Background:
- Demonstration turnout is a critical resource for social movements.
- Understanding how mass media report on protest size is essential for analyzing movement influence.
- Existing research lacks a clear framework for media coverage of demonstration turnout.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate mass media coverage of demonstration size.
- To develop a typology of turnout coverage and identify driving factors.
- To determine if media coverage underestimates, reflects, or exaggerates organizer and police estimates, testing normalization versus marginalization logics.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of a unique dataset of 428 demonstrations in Brussels (2003-2010).
- Comparison of media-reported turnout with police counts and organizer estimates.
- Development and application of a typology for turnout coverage.
Main Results:
- Media most frequently present turnout as factual (90% of cases), rarely as contentious.
- Little evidence suggests media marginalization; coverage does not systematically underestimate size or blindly follow police figures.
- Turnout coverage follows a logic of normalization, with more attention given to larger demonstrations and those with significant discrepancies between police and organizer estimates.
Conclusions:
- Media coverage of demonstration turnout aligns with standard news-making practices (normalization).
- Coverage is influenced by demonstration importance and the divergence in official estimates.
- The findings prompt discussion on the generalizability and normative implications of media reporting on protests.
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