Media Relations of the Anti-War Movement: The Battle for Hearts and Minds

257 Pages·2017·2.58 MB·English

by  Ian Taylor

The media activities of progressive movements and the work of local and
alternative newspapers have been too often ignored by the academy. Here
IanTaylorthrowsthespotlightonthepeacemovement’srelationswiththe
local and alternative press over the Iraq invasion of 2003. It is highly ori-
ginal, richly theorised, massively researched, tightly argued – and crucial
reading for media academics and students.
Richard Lance Keeble, Professor of Journalism,
University of Lincoln, UK
Workon news media and war has largely been concentrated at a national
level,involvingeliteactorsandnationalmediaoutlets,soIan Taylor’swork
makes a rare and significant contribution in offering a keenly-theorised,
ground-levelanalysisbasedonlocalanti-wargroupsandtheirrelationswith
local media in Britain – areas whose operations and significance cannot
merely be extrapolated from research or theoryon a national scale. Taylor
uses evidence from content analysis and interviews to argue that pressure
from popular social movements matters, and to provide a critique of the
media relations of the British Stop the War Coalition and of ‘challenger’
sources more generally. So this is an important book for students of social
movements, of media andwar and of the role of local media.
Peter Goddard, University of Liverpool, UK
Anti-war movements since 9/11 and the initiation of the ‘war on terror’
have faced tremendous obstacles in their efforts to achieve political influ-
ence. In this ground breaking work, Taylor offers a nuanced and fascinat-
ing analysis of UK anti-war groups and their relationship to local media
with respect to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation.
Documenting both the strengths and the weaknesses of these grass roots
groups, it is essential reading for all those seeking to understand the
potentialofanti-warmovementstoinfluencepublicdebateandthebarriers
that need to be overcome.
Professor Piers Robinson, Chair in Politics, Society and
Political Journalism, Department of Journalism Studies,
University of Sheffield, UK
This page intentionally left blank
Media Relations of the
Anti-War Movement
In this book, Ian Taylor examines how a social movement, the anti-Iraq
War movement in the UK, engaged with the media as a part of their
campaigning against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Moving beyond
content analysis to draw upon interviews with locally based journalists
and activists, Taylor examines how locally based anti-war groups engaged
with their local press, aswell as how those groupswere reported on by the
local press in their respectiveareas. In the process of exploring these ideas,
the book takes on questions like:
(cid:1) How did local journalists assess the legitimacy of the anti-war
movement?
(cid:1) How, why, and to what extent did opponents of the war pursue local
press coverage?
(cid:1) Whatbearingdidthesocialcompositionofthemovementhaveonthe
way they set about engaging with the media?
(cid:1) How didthelocalpresshandlethecontroversysurroundingopposition
to military action against Iraq?
Media Relations of the Anti-War Movement makes a unique contribu-
tion to research on the interactions between social movements and the
media and plugs a major gap in the literature on the Iraq War and the
media.
Ian Tayloris a UniversityTeacher with the Department of Social Sciences
at Loughborough University, and a Distance Learning Tutor with the
Department of Media and Communications at the Universityof Leicester.
He iscurrently researching the interactions between social movementsand
the media.
Routledge Studies in Global Information, Politics and Society
Edited by Kenneth Rogerson, Duke University and
Laura Roselle, Elon University
International communication encompasses everything from one-to-one cross-
cultural interactions to the global reach of abroad range of information and
communications technologies and processes. Routledge Studies in Global
Information, Politics and Society celebrates – and embraces – this depth and
breadth. To completely understand communication, it must be studied in
concert with many factors, since, most often, it is the foundational principle
on which other subjects rest. This series provides a publishing space for
scholarship in the expansive, yet intersecting, categories of communication
and information processes and other disciplines.
Framing War Twitter and Elections Around
Public Opinion and the World
Decision-Making in Campaigning in 140 Characters
Comparative Perspective or Less
Francesco Olmastroni Edited by Richard Davis, Christina
Holtz-Bacha, and Marion Just
Political Communication
and Leadership Political Communication in
Mimetisation,HugoChávezandthe Real Time
Construction of Power and Identity Theoretical and Applied
Elena Block Research Approaches
Edited by Dan Schill, Rita Kirk and
The Power of Information Networks Amy Jasperson
New Directions for Agenda Setting
Edited by Lei Guo and Disability Rights Advocacy Online
Maxwell McCombs Voice, Empowerment and
Global Connectivity
Television News and Human Rights Edited by Filippo Trevisan
in the US & UK
The Violations Will Not Media Relations of the
Be Televised Anti-War Movement
Shawna M. Brandle The Battle for Hearts and Minds
Ian Taylor
Beyond the Internet
Unplugging the Protest
Movement Wave
Edited by Rita Figueiras and
Paula do Espírito Santo
Media Relations of the
Anti-War Movement
The Battle for Hearts and Minds
Ian Taylor
K ~~o~;J~n~~~up
ORKYOR LONDOLNLOONNDDOONN
Y
LONDONANDNEWYORK
Firstpublished2017
byRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
andbyRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninforma
business
©2017Taylor&Francis
TherightofIanTaylortobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen
assertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,or
othermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopying
andrecording,orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,
withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand
explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Names:Taylor,Ian,1973-author.
Title:Mediarelationsoftheanti-warmovement:thebattleforhearts
andminds/byIanTaylor.
Description:NewYork:Routledge,[2016]|Series:Routledgestudiesin
globalinformation,politicsandsociety|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2016032115|ISBN9781138695986(hbk)
Subjects:LCSH:Peacemovements–Publicrelations.|Peace
movements–Presscoverage.|Communicationinpolitics.|Public
relationsandpolitics.|Massmediaandpublicopinion.
Classification:LCCJZ5574.T392016|DDC659.2/930366–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016032115
ISBN:978-1-138-69598-6(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-52569-3(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Series editor’s foreword x
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xii
PARTI
The scope of this study 1
1 Introduction 3
2 Frame analysis, the ‘dual role’ of the media, and
source–media relations 11
3 Social movements, protest, and the media 30
4 Understanding the Iraq crisis 51
PARTII
Research 75
5 The socio-political composition of the anti-war movement
in Britain 77
6 Local activists’ engagements with the media 102
7 Matters of professionalism and legitimacy: The role of the
newsworkers 129
8 Local news reporting and commentary on the
anti-war movement 143
viii Contents
PARTIII
Summary and conclusions 183
9 Summary: Objectives and objectivity 185
10 Conclusions 196
Appendix 1: Different groups and media in the UK anti-war
movement 203
Appendix 2: Methodological considerations 207
Appendix 3: Short version of survey 212
Appendix 4: Interview diary – activists 217
Appendix 5: Interview diary – journalists 220
Bibliography 221
Index 239
List of illustrations
Figures
6.1 What doyou get the most coverage from? 104
6.2 Howwouldyouassessthewaythatthelocalpressinyourarea
reported on the activities YOUR group engaged in as part of
your opposition to the Iraq War? 111
8.1 Distribution of units focused on the anti-war movement to
havebeen published in the sample papers from 1 January 2003
to 31 January 2004 147
8.2 The spheres of consensus, legitimate controversy, and deviance 150
8.3 The spheres of consensus, legitimate controversy, and
deviance – reconfigured 151
8.4 Spheres of controversy 153
8.5 Fluctuations in the legitimacyof the anti-war movement 153
8.6 Spheres of controversy for public meetings 175
Tables
4.1 Pro-war security 60
4.2 Anti-war security 61
4.3 Pro-war international law 62
4.4 Anti-war international law 62
4.5 Pro-war motives 64
5.1 A sketch of the size, activism, and activities of the local
anti-war groups 90
6.1 Activist’s assessments of the treatment of their group
cross-tabulated against declarations of whether mediarelations
were a priority 114
8.1 Thenumberandproportionofsourcesusedinlocalpaperreports 149
8.2 The ratio of quotationsfrom protesters and theirsupporters to
‘authority figures’ and critics of the movement in a sample of
reports from the eve of, and immediately after, the invasion 164