Overview

There is an elaborate and often invisible carnival that emerges alongside presidential campaigns as innumerable activist groups attempt to press their issues into mainstream political discourse. Sarah Sobieraj's fascinating ethnographic portrait of fifty diverse organizations over the course of two campaign cycles reveals that while most activist groups equate political success with media success and channel their energies accordingly, their efforts fail to generate news coverage and come with deleterious consequences. Sobieraj shows that activists' impact on public political debates is minimal, and carefully unravels the ways in which their all-consuming media work and unrelenting public relations approach undermine their ability to communicate with pedestrians, comes at the expense of other political activities, and perhaps most perniciously, damages the groups themselves. Weaving together fieldwork, news analysis, and in-depth interviews with activists and journalists, Soundbitten illuminates the relationship between news and activist organizations. This captivating portrait of activism in the United States lays bare the challenges faced by outsiders struggling to be heard in a mass media dominated public sphere that proves exclusionary and shows that media-centrism is not only ineffective, but also damaging to group life. Soundbitten reveals why media-centered activism so often fails, what activist groups lose in the process, and why we should all be concerned.

Full Product Details

9780814741375

Table of Contents

Reviews

Beyond its utility for activists, Soundbitten is essential for scholars of social movements and activism and would be a great read for an undergraduate or graduate social movements or political communication course. Additionally, this book is a valuable read for those interested in public relations--practitioners and scholars alike--because it gives such detailed insights into the complex relationships between groups seeking media attention and the journalists reporting on them. -Michael P. Boyle, Political Science Quarterly

@font-face { font-family: Times New Roman ; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman ; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times New Roman ; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Soundbitten is an astute, engagingly written study of the dynamics and costs of media obsession by activist groups. Sarah Sobieraj busts the cliches of both movement organizations and sociologists with aplomb.

Author Information

Sarah Sobieraj is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Tufts University.

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