The growing mediatization of everyday life has led to the emergence of new forms of social movements and political contestation. While this trend can be examined meaningfully through the lenses of traditional political, journalistic, and activist cultures, there is something about the distinct combination of communicative action and affective labor that carries uniquely transformative implications (Castells 2015). Whereas popular, individualized articulations of affective empowerment, and personal politics have been criticized for their lack of bearing on material realities (Barnard 2016b), alternative forms of expression on social media appear to have much deeper resonance with political and activist cultures, and therefore much greater chances at contributing to social change. Nevertheless, collective identity and collective action, supported through active engagement with networked technologies, are requisite characteristics of new social movements.
Whether on the ground, on Twitter, or both, participants in the #Ferguson protests expressed feelings of outrage against major social institutions—namely the criminal justice system and the mainstream media. This paper will examine the role that citizen journo-activists play in the transformation of political and journalistic cultures. As a hybrid, journo-activist space, tweeting #Ferguson quickly emerged as an effective way for interested actors to network and spread their message. Similarly, many networked journalists—increasingly referred to as “j-tweeters” (Hedman 2015)—have taken to Twitter to collect and share information about the events in Ferguson. Using a combination of digital ethnography and content analysis of tweets from #Ferguson, this study examines journalistic and activist uses of Twitter as well as the correspondent implications for changes in field relations and practices. Given the growing convergence of these two fields, as well as their concurrent practices, this case study provides unique insights about the role of digital media in efforts aiming to share information and bolster social change.
5. Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
Source
Professional journalists
also targeted
Source
What happens when shared interests and experiences (i.e.
tear-gassing and arrest) are combined with differences in
practices and objectives?
6. Conflict & Media Criticism
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
Source
7. Amateur vs. Professional
Media
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
Conflict at the
intersection of (citizen)
journalism and activism
“Whose side are you on?”
(Araiza, Sturm, Istek and
Bock 2016)
At the same time, there’s
a lot of cooperation and
hybridity
Brian Stelter himself is a
blogger-turned-journalist
8. Mediatization
Mediatization emphasizes
the social significance of
the changes following
processes of mediation in
a networked society
"Mediatization studies
move the focus of interest
from the particular
instances of mediated
communication to the
structural transformation
of the media in
contemporary culture and
society" (Hjarvard, 2013:2).
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
Mediatized News
Hermida (2010; 2012);
Barnard (2016)
9. The Rise of Affective News
Objective & Affective News The Affective Domain
Objectivity
(Schudson 1978; Reese 1990).
Affective News
(Papacharissi andOliveira
2012)
Affective Publics
(Papacharissi 2014)
Affective Labor
(Thomas and Correa 2015)
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
Source
10. Research Questions
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
1. What are the similarities and differences
between professional journalists and activists’
tweeting of #Ferguson?
2. What is the structural composition of the field
of activists and journalists tweeting
#Ferguson?
3. What formats and discursive approaches are
apparent in the #Ferguson tweets? What does
this reveal about the mediatized field of
journo-activism?
4. What themes and frames are found in the
#Ferguson tweets?
11. Methods & Sampling
Digital ethnographic content analysis (DECA)
“hashtags offer a window to peep through, but it is
only by stepping through that window and
‘following’ (in bothTwitter and non-Twitter terms)
individual users that we can begin to place tweets
within a broader context” (Bonilla and Rosa 2015:7).
Lists of influential journo-activists (46) and
j-tweeters (46)
Keyword search (#Ferguson OR “Ferguson”)
during four key periods in Ferguson
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
12. Begin End Data Plot Total
Tweets
Peak
Aug. 9, 2014
(Michael
Brown shot)
Aug. 21, 2014
(calm returns;
grand jury
begins) 22,528
3,043
(Aug. 19)
Sept. 25,
2014 (police
chief
Dotson
apologizes
to Brown
family)
Sept. 30, 2014
(police officer
shot on Sept.
27 in unrelated
event;
sporadic
actions)
8,222
1,448
(Sept. 30)
Oct. 14,
2014 (police
arrest
dozens of
protesters)
Oct. 23, 2014
(leaked
autopsy report
on Oct. 22)
6,052
663 (Oct.
23)
Nov. 17,
2014 (state
of
emergency
declared)
Nov. 27, 2014
(Grand Jury
announcement
Nov. 24) 13,830
3,056
(Nov. 25)
Dark blue = all posts
Light blue = reactions (RT & @reply) 50,632
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
13. Coding Scheme
Format
the manner in which information is
presented
tweet; link; image; conversation
Frames
‘focus on what will be discussed, how it
will be discussed, and, above all, how it
will not be discussed’
Context; perspective; focus
Themes
‘recurring typical theses’ that span
multiple texts within a broader
discourse
Patterns in the text
Discourse
“the parameters [or field] of relevant
meaning that one uses to talk about
things”
Direction and meaning; topic and
audience Source: Altheide and Schneider, 2013: 51–53
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
14. Codes/Concepts
Objective
Factual reporting; avoidance of opinion, emotion, or
loaded language
Affective
Emotional and reactive; Often stream-of-
consciousness, opinion, using natural language
Media criticism
Observations or critiques about mainstream media
Could include biases in coverage, practices, etc.
Meta-discourse
Reporting about reporting; tweeting about tweeting
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
16. Network Map of Influencers
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
17. Networks divided by group
Journalists Activists
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
18. Format: Tweet Type
Journalists Activists
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
On average, activists are a little more reactive or conversational (@replys and RTs)
Journalists are a little more authorial
19. Format: Media
Journalists Activists
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
On average, journalists are a little more likely to link and share photos;
Activists are a little more likely to tweet videos and text-only
BUT, this might have something to do with how much activists tweet
(70% of dataset)
20. Discourse: #Ferguson vs.
Ferguson
Journalists Activists
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
Journalists are a little less likely to use the hashtag and a little more likely to use the keyword
21. Discourse: Top Domain Links
JOURNALISTS ACTIVISTS
Domain Count Domain Count
vine.co 786 vine.co 1734
instagram.com 281 instagram.com 1252
washingtonpost.co
m 213 youtube.com 469
buzzfeed.com 195 twitter.com 236
latimes.com 180 stltoday.com 221
stltoday.com 174 huffingtonpost.com 202
youtube.com 153 ustream.tv 199
huffingtonpost.co
m 134
thisisthemovement.launchrock.co
m 150
googleweblight.co
m 105 scribd.com 130
twitter.com 88 washingtonpost.com 126
ksdk.com 86 livestream.com 107
msnbc.com 85 latimes.com 93
kmov.com 73 us5.campaign-archive2.com 91
edition.cnn.com 67 googleweblight.com 85
wsj.com 67 storify.com 83
usatoday.com 64 facebook.com 79
news.vice.com 52 ksdk.com 77
theguardian.com 52 secure.piryx.com 75
livestream.com 42 bambuser.com 74
riverfronttimes.co
m 42 msnbc.com 73
Similarities
Top = Vine & Instagram
(popular video and photo apps
in 2014)
Some combination of MSM
and social media
Top 10: STLtoday; HuffPo;
Twitter;YouTube
Shared linking
Differences
Journalists: more mainstream
WaPo; Buzzfeed;
Activists: more social
Twitter; Ustream; Livestream
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
26. Conclusions
Connection & Hybridity
Networks
Themes & practices
Networked Habitus & Capital
Like many journalists (Barnard 2016), some activists have used
theirTwitter participation as a launch-pad
Deray McKesson; BLM
Difference & Distinction
Frames
Journalists mostly objective
Activists mostly affective
Discourse
Journalists mostly mainstream
Activists mostly social and alternative
Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
27. Stephen Barnard | @socsavvy | St. Lawrence University
THANK YOU…
I look forward to comments
and questions
Editor's Notes
“More than 1,000,000 Ferguson tweets were sent before CNN covered the story in prime-time, 3 days after the shooting”
https://twitter.com/conradhackett/status/502213347643625472/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
Part of Blooms taxonomy
While studies of #Ferguson and similar events have revealed notable trends in the volume of coverage mainstream media (MSM) outlets dedicated to issue (Hitlin and Vogt 2014), few have offered an in-depth analysis of the discourse on Twitter and how it maps onto the fields of journalism and activism. Accordingly, this study seeks to fill this gap by providing a mezzo-level analysis of the content and context of networked journo-activism.