Media and Power in International Contexts: Perspectives on Agency and Identity

Volume 16 of Emerald Studies in Media and Communications is entitled Media and Power in International Contexts: Perspectives on Agency and Identity. Scholars of communication, media studies, sociology, and cultural studies come together to examine axioms of power at play across different forms of cultural production. Contributing to these fields, the volume highlights the value of interdisciplinary work and international perspectives to enrich our understandings of agency and identity vis-à-vis key case studies of media consumption and production.

Probing facets of agency, the first section of the volume leads with work by Deana A. Rohlinger, Rebecca A. Redmond, Haley Gentile, Tara Stamm, and Alexandra Olsen entitled “Power and Representation: Activist Standing in Broadcast News, 1970–2012.” Impressively, their data cover a 32 year span and 269 broadcast news stories on five social movements: Women’s Rights, Gay Rights, Immigrant Rights, Occupy Wall Street, and Tea Party. They investigate discourse and representations of activism in news media as significant forms of power. Their findings demonstrate how hegemonic power mediates activism through representation of activists’ appearance, behavior, and social status. For example, as the authors note, “activists mobilizing for and against women’s rights are shown in business attire more often than Tea Parties.” Focusing on different activists’ standing, Rohlinger and colleagues reveal how the news media play a significant role in communicating who has the power and the legitimacy to call for change: