DPU Soc Podcast

DPU Sociology Club

The podcast of the DePaul University Sociology Club. This podcast serves as a way for students to connect with organizations, organizations to connect with students, and the collective to continue the work necessary to empower people and make society more inclusive.

Episodes

  1. DPU Soc Podcast: Season 2, Episode 1-- Protests, Propaganda, and Collective Memory

    10/13/2021

    DPU Soc Podcast: Season 2, Episode 1-- Protests, Propaganda, and Collective Memory

    Abstract The purpose of this paper is to discuss the way propaganda, particularly media coverage of social demonstrations, can affect the collective memory of social movements in society. Using sources from Sacchi et. al.(2007), Fleck (1979), and Hall (2003), I discuss how ideology becomes scientific fact by first being accepted by the thought collective of social communities, and how it is the media’s job to shape ideologies. I discuss in the literature and through three case studies of New York Times articles how the public memory of social events can be affected by the way they are reported—particularly examining a lawsuit in Atlanta in 1967, a comment from the British Prime Minister on the Movement for Black lives protests, and an article on GOP bills passed at the state level. I lean on an article by Phelps and Hamilton (2021)  reiterating how media coverage of protests, particularly coverage of the murder of Michael Brown was rife for ideological debate over race and “…. the value of Black lives”. Right leaning media outlets chose images that dehumanized and criminalized Brown and the Movement for Black lives protesters alike, while left leaning media outlets chose images that humanized Brown and displayed images of peaceful protesters and militarized police. Mainstream media outlets fell in the middle (pg. 12). What this choice does in affecting collective memory of a social event, is paint protesters as the problem, and the barrier to solutions—in effect criminalizing them to eliminate their voice. If individuals in the future were to attempt to recall this information, one in four individuals, according to Sacchi et al. (2007) would be likely to recall the experience of social demonstrations incorrectly. Keywords: Protests; Propaganda; Collective Memory; White Racial Frame; Inequality; Michael Brown; George Floyd; Breonna Taylor Working paper available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Ptd93eLRgD_qJ3ls9mqIN282wy0Llmp/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117161160486464753725&rtpof=true&sd=true for questions, please email sociologyclubdpu@gmail.com at DePaul University (2021) or Garrett Riley of Music by Underscore Motif Productions, Llc. est. 2021 @ griley5@depaul.edu

    24 min

About

The podcast of the DePaul University Sociology Club. This podcast serves as a way for students to connect with organizations, organizations to connect with students, and the collective to continue the work necessary to empower people and make society more inclusive.