In our last blogpost, we discussed the strategies of movement actors in overcoming asymmetry between the relationship between media and social movement. Social movement actors usually adopt four strategies to overcome this asymmetry. This lecture continues the same topic and extends it by focusing on impacts when social movement actors adopt media logics.
After getting frustrated, when movement actors adopt media logics, they always have to pay a cost for it. Adoption to media logics (creating stunts, timing and drama) may most likely succeed movement actors in gaining media coverage, yet it also bears negative consequences for social movements.
Since we know that social movements are not organisations, they are launched by small groups of people without any substantial resources. Movements have lesser human and nun-human resources. Firstly, too much focus on positive media attention is most likely to drain movement actors' limited resources. At the start and even at the zenith, movement actors do not afford to waste resources on anything else but their objectives. This is the first impact.
Secondly, when movement actors are concentrating more on gaining media attention, they are striving to reach distant audiences. This action is good in the sense they get a better opportunity to reach distant audiences. However, it has a downside for near audiences. Increased concentration on distant audiences is likely to put a shadow on the efforts and activities which movement actors are supposed to take for near audiences. Thus simply we can say that movement direct outreach activities to near audiences are likely to be greatly affected.
Finally and the most importantly, there is a possibility of greater risk that while focusing too much on media attention, movement actors might get engaged in measuring their movement success in terms of amount of media coverage instead of the outcomes just like changes at policy level or legislation. It is very dangerous. The risk is most likely to divert attention of movement actors from their real objectives to media attention.
In summary, mainstream media is highly capable of influencing various aspects of social movement. Sometimes, mainstream media leave those influence without letting movement actors to notice it. Most permanently, media influences movement actors' leadership, performances, strategies, framing activities and discourses as well.
