Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift
This study examines the evolving relationship between online media coverage and protest movements by analyzing year-long demonstrations in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Through comprehensive qualitative thematic analysis and content analyses of 219 online newspaper articles from...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Journalism and Media |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/6/2/78 |
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| author | Matan Aharoni |
| author_facet | Matan Aharoni |
| author_sort | Matan Aharoni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examines the evolving relationship between online media coverage and protest movements by analyzing year-long demonstrations in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Through comprehensive qualitative thematic analysis and content analyses of 219 online newspaper articles from five major Israeli newspapers; 324 social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; and 9 semi-structured interviews with protest leaders, this research identifies a gradual paradigm shift in protest representation in online media. The findings reveal a transition from the traditional “protest paradigm”—which frames protests as violent and remote through warlike discourse and visual distancing—toward an emerging “our protest paradigm”, characterized by rhetorical and visual proximity to protesters. This new paradigm manifests through personal testimonies in mainstream media and portrait photography on social media platforms, both creating a sense of closeness and accountability. The study further reveals a significant disconnect between protest leaders’ perceptions and legacy media, as leaders increasingly view traditional media as irrelevant despite their advisers’ recommendations to engage with it. Using polysystem theory as a theoretical framework, this research demonstrates how two media systems—legacy media and social media—operate with epistemological rigidity, challenging the previously established notion of “competitive symbiosis” between protesters and journalists. This investigation offers a novel analytical perspective through the lens of distance, illuminating how changing dynamics in online information transfer are reshaping protest coverage and production. The resulting paradigm model explains the coexistence of two simultaneous protest paradigms and provides valuable insights into the contemporary relationship between social movements, legacy media, and digital platforms in an evolving media ecosystem. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f47a24c14b4c49059b51d9ae2f9b4284 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2673-5172 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journalism and Media |
| spelling | doaj-art-f47a24c14b4c49059b51d9ae2f9b42842025-06-25T14:03:12ZengMDPI AGJournalism and Media2673-51722025-05-01627810.3390/journalmedia6020078Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm ShiftMatan Aharoni0School of Communication, Ariel University, Ariel 4077625, IsraelThis study examines the evolving relationship between online media coverage and protest movements by analyzing year-long demonstrations in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Through comprehensive qualitative thematic analysis and content analyses of 219 online newspaper articles from five major Israeli newspapers; 324 social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; and 9 semi-structured interviews with protest leaders, this research identifies a gradual paradigm shift in protest representation in online media. The findings reveal a transition from the traditional “protest paradigm”—which frames protests as violent and remote through warlike discourse and visual distancing—toward an emerging “our protest paradigm”, characterized by rhetorical and visual proximity to protesters. This new paradigm manifests through personal testimonies in mainstream media and portrait photography on social media platforms, both creating a sense of closeness and accountability. The study further reveals a significant disconnect between protest leaders’ perceptions and legacy media, as leaders increasingly view traditional media as irrelevant despite their advisers’ recommendations to engage with it. Using polysystem theory as a theoretical framework, this research demonstrates how two media systems—legacy media and social media—operate with epistemological rigidity, challenging the previously established notion of “competitive symbiosis” between protesters and journalists. This investigation offers a novel analytical perspective through the lens of distance, illuminating how changing dynamics in online information transfer are reshaping protest coverage and production. The resulting paradigm model explains the coexistence of two simultaneous protest paradigms and provides valuable insights into the contemporary relationship between social movements, legacy media, and digital platforms in an evolving media ecosystem.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/6/2/78protest paradigmmedia coverage of a protestpolysystem theoryqualitative researchpress and protest leadersmedia–protest relations |
| spellingShingle | Matan Aharoni Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift Journalism and Media protest paradigm media coverage of a protest polysystem theory qualitative research press and protest leaders media–protest relations |
| title | Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift |
| title_full | Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift |
| title_fullStr | Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift |
| title_short | Aiming Close to Make a Change: Protest Coverage and Production in Online Media as a Process Toward Paradigm Shift |
| title_sort | aiming close to make a change protest coverage and production in online media as a process toward paradigm shift |
| topic | protest paradigm media coverage of a protest polysystem theory qualitative research press and protest leaders media–protest relations |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/6/2/78 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matanaharoni aimingclosetomakeachangeprotestcoverageandproductioninonlinemediaasaprocesstowardparadigmshift |