Audiences all over the globe are experiencing an unprecedented communication challenge. The intensity of the transnational media platforms and the rapid media distribution information implies a huge adaptation and interaction to diverse media technologies. These have created a transition in the culture of citizens’ acts, creating the era of “Media Matrix.” The printed press and the television still today cover the social movements’ demonstrations playing an important role in which these are revealed to the public. The importance of the news framing and Internet, as well as social media, depends upon one other crucial component for the social movements’ visibility. The present study aims to offer a theoretical reflection on this issue describing a three-stage analyses, which the media coverage underwent. The study describes the different stages in the coverage and “news-making” of social movements, which brings us to today’s matrix era. Furthermore, it also deliberates the impact this phenomenon has had in the civil society.
Part of the book: Social Media and Journalism
In December 2022, protests began in Israel against proposals to reform the country’s legal system. Some maintained this was a legal reform, while others contended it was a regime coup. Using multimodal discourse analysis, we analyzed 162 protest signs displayed during the 20 weeks of demonstrations from January 2023 through May 2023. We organized the evolution of the signs according to Lewis and Reese’s three stages of communication: transmission, reification, and naturalization. For instance, the slogans that initially talked about a legal revolution (transmission) later changed to charges about attacks on democracy (reification) and, finally, a regime coup (naturalization). Findings show three main characteristics of the slogans: (1) focus on values such as the importance of democracy, (2) the expression of individual, subgroup and collective forms of protest, and (3) appeals to the international community to pressure the Prime Minister and the government. The findings also confirm the usefulness of Lewis and Reese’s model, originally designed to analyze journalism articles, in assessing the text and visuals of protest slogans.
Part of the book: Social Activism