Media Representation and Coverage Framing of Animal Rights Activism in Australian Mainstream Media by Qinxuan LI https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv en-us 2023-05-09 23:26:05 UTC 2026-02-16 20:37:26 UTC hello@padlet.com Background qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2584488085 The animal rights movement has often clashed with the customary oppression of animals by modern industrialisation.

Previous studies have demonstrated the unequal relations between media and protest activists (Harlow, 2020). Under such a relationship, the article of protest is not completely objective and neutral but has a favor for official institutions (McLeod, 2000; McCluskey et al., 2009). This biased coverage pattern is summarised as protest paradigm (Chan & Lee, 1984; McLeod & Detenber, 1999).

When the media paid attention to animal rights movements and activists, they tend to spotlight radical acts rather than promoting animal advocacy ideas promoted by activists. Many media even put animal rights movements in the context of terrorism and extremism (Rojahn & Hawley, 2021; Sorenson, 2009). Based on the above background, this article proposes the hypothesis and the research question:

H1: Australian mainstream media coverages of animal rights movements conform to the protest paradigm.
RQ1: How animal rights activists are portrayed in the Australian mainstream media?

]]> 2023-05-09 23:27:08 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2584488085 Methodology qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2597041772 This study is primarily conducted through a quantitative content analysis approach and selects the animal rights protest that took place across Australia on around 8 April 2019 as the core movement. In terms of news agencies selection, this study mainly considered their influence as mainstream media, thus the following four media were chosen: Australian Associated Press (AAP), The Australian, news.com.au, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Based on the timing of that April protest, we selected relevant news from 1 January 2019 to 1 September 2019 through Factiva database. The final sample consists of 98 articles.
 
The coding scheme for this study includes the following four categories: article length, tone of the dominant direction, source, and news theme frame. The scheme is built around the research question and hypothesis. The article length category is used to examine whether there is a correlation between the sources quoted and the length of coverage. The tone of the dominant direction mainly measures the general attitude of the activists and their actions in the coverage, which is a reflection of their media images. The other two categories have been set based on the purpose to validate the protest paradigm.
]]> 2023-05-19 02:42:02 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2597041772 Preliminary Results qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2597043482 At this stage, the study has completed the coding of 60 articles from two news agencies, AAP and news.com.au. In the coding of the four units, the source category is a multiple choice category and the other three categories are all single choice. The author conducted a descriptive analysis of the data acquired.]]> 2023-05-19 02:43:05 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2597043482 Conclusion qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2597054391 Based on the data now accessed, the article about the animal rights movement in the Australian mainstream media has presented the feature of protest paradigm.

Coverages tend to cite official sources, reinforcing the impact of activists' actions on society and lacking in the presentation of their advocacy.

Animal rights activists are also mostly presented with a more negative image.]]> 2023-05-19 02:50:50 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2597054391 qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598636589 For the tone of the dominant direction in the articles, it is clear to see that 76.7% of the reports are biased in the negative direction, much more than the positive ones.]]> 2023-05-21 05:20:27 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598636589 qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598637668 In terms of news theme frames, the riot frame accounts for 50% of the total, far more than the others.]]> 2023-05-21 05:24:58 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598637668 qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598637755 2023-05-21 05:25:22 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598637755 qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598638003 Since each article may have multiple sources simultaneously or not quoted at all, this study conducted a multiple response analysis for this category. As can be seen, the references to official sources are still the most common.]]> 2023-05-21 05:26:30 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598638003 References qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598692474 Chan, J. M., & Lee, C. C. (1984). Journalistic ‘‘paradigms’’ of civil protests: A case study in Hong Kong. In A. Arno & W. Dissanayake (Eds.), The news media in national and international conflict (pp. 183–202). Boulder, CO: Westview. 

McCluskey, M., Stein, S. E., Boyle, M. P., & McLeod, D. M. (2009). Community Structure and Social Protest: Influences on Newspaper Coverage. Mass Communication and Society, 12(3), 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205430802478685

McLeod, D. M. (2000). The protest paradigm and news coverage of the ‘right to party’ movement. In D. A. Schultz (Ed.), It’s show time! Media, politics, and popular culture (pp. 29–49). New York: P. Lang. 

McLeod, D. M., & Detenber, B. H. (1999). Framing effects of television news coverage of social protest. Journal of communication, 49(3), 3-23. 
 
Harlow, S., Kilgo, D. K., Salaverría, R., & García-Perdomo, V. (2020). Is the Whole World Watching? Building a Typology of Protest Coverage on Social Media From Around the World. Journalism Studies, 21(11), 1590–1608. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2020.1776144 

Rojahn, M., & Hawley, E. (2021). The politics of animal rights activism: A frame analysis of the 2019 national direct action. Australian Journalism Review, 43(2), 245–261. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajr_00080_7

Sorenson, J. (2009). Constructing terrorists: propaganda about animal rights. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 2(2), 237–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539150903010715
]]> 2023-05-21 08:32:12 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598692474 qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598694582 Photo from The Guardian]]> 2023-05-21 08:37:55 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598694582 qinxuanli1 https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598695784 Photo from The New York Times]]> 2023-05-21 08:40:20 UTC https://padlet.com/qinxuanli1/hyc038kadyd4c4xv/wish/2598695784