Newsworthy

Newsworthy
(DeLuca and Peeples)

Definition: A term used to describe protest events capable of gaining media coverage (and sometimes, wide-spread recognition) - specifically, those of more controversial spectacles such as riots and often times, in forms of violence.

Example: A clear example would be the Seattle WTO protests examined in the DeLuca and Peeples text. The protests were violent, radical, and controversial, therefore, capable of gaining mass media coverage and remaining as one of the hallmarks of public protest.

From the text: DeLuca and Peeples state that "Citizens who want to appear on the public screen, who want to act on the stage of participatory democracy, face . . . the need to communicate in the discourse of images (191). Moreover, "... the emphasis on the new, drama, conflict, objectivity, and compelling visuals, open the public screen" (192). DeLuca and Peeples go on to add that "... without such violence or its threat, TV news coverage quickly evaporated" (195).

Works Cited

DeLuca, Kevin M. and Peeples, Jennifer. "From Public Sphere to Public Screen: Democracy, 

   Activism, and the 'Violence' of Seattle." Readings in the Rhetoric of Social Protest. Browne, Stephen Howard, and Charles 

    E. Morris III, eds. State College, PA: Strata Publishing, Inc., 2013.