Rethinking the protest paradigm: media kettling in the television coverage of the 2019 Chilean uprising

Jiménez-Martínez, César ORCID: 0000-0002-2921-0832, Orchard, Ximena and Herrada, Nadia (2025) Rethinking the protest paradigm: media kettling in the television coverage of the 2019 Chilean uprising. International Journal of Communication. ISSN 1932-8036

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Abstract

Although the “protest paradigm” remains the default analytical position in the field of mediated protest, recent scholarship has questioned its explanatory capacity, in a context of changes to the nature of collective action and increasing criminalization of protests. We advance these discussions using the television coverage of the 2019 Chilean uprising as a heuristic device, looking at 361 reports about these protests aired on a private and a public broadcasting station. Drawing on Chan and Lee’s original argument describing the existence of several protest paradigms, as well as debates on policing demonstrations, we propose that two paradigms were at play in the coverage: an “antagonistic” one, which delegitimizes and marginalizes dissent; and a “paternalistic” one, which celebrates “good” protesters and “well-behaved” collective action. These paradigms echo developments in policing protests, with journalists manufacturing what we call media kettling, a type of coverage that celebrates the right to protest but severely restricts collective action.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	J Political Science > JL Political institutions (America except United States) P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2024 18:27
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2025 13:03
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/125959

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