A crucial element of struggle for any social movement is the ability to convey its message to both movement participants and the broader public. Movements frequently deal with problems of reframing and reinterpretation of their messages by mainstream media by trying to build relationships with mainstream media actors. But this is not the only way that movements can gain positive media coverage. This article reveals two little‐discussed media strategies that movements may adopt in order to mitigate the problem of how to best get sympathetic news coverage. First, movements can circumvent mainstream media altogether by using alternative media. Second, movements can work to reform the media, thereby changing the rules and structures that govern movement–media relationships. I use data from interviews with participants in the free radio movement to illustrate these two media strategies and how their use helped the movement achieve moderate successes. I argue that control of (or access to) alternative media can help a social movement overcome the difficulties of gaining sympathetic mainstream media coverage. I also argue that the media reform movement, if successful, could further help social movements overcome this problem. This case study suggests that scholars’ preoccupation with mainstream media coverage may have caused us to underestimate the power of social movements to generate positive media coverage.
This paper describes the design methodologies of a documentary videogame that looks to explore opportunities for serious games of history. The Cat and the Coup is about Mohammed Mossadegh, Iran's first democratically elected Prime Minister who underwent a CIA-sponsored coup d'état -a historical moment that is largely new to its young American audience.
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