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Revolution for the Lulz, or, An exploration of protest in the age of new media
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Revolution for the Lulz, or, An exploration of protest in the age of new media
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! ! ! Revolution for the Lulz ! Or: An Exploration of Protest in the Age of New Media ! ! by ! ! Andrew J.B. Aronsohn ! ! .◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦. .◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦.◦°(^_^)°◦.◦ ! ! A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF THE ARTS (STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS) ! December 2014 ! ! ! ii Dedication This work is dedicated to Aristotle, without whom none of this would have been possible. ! ! ! ! ! ! iii Acknowledgements I am not, and have never been. ! ! ! ! ! iv Table of Contents Dedication……………………………………………………………….……………ii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………….…….iii List of Figures………………………………………………………………….……..v Glossary of Terms……………………………………………………………………vi Timeline of Events…………………………………………………………………..vii Overture (preface)…………………………………………………………………..viii I: Prelude (intro)………………………………………………………….…….……..1 II: Exposition (literature review)…………………………………………….………..4 III: Anonymous (case one)………………………………………………….……….16 IV: Occupy (case two)………………………………………………………….……24 V: Findings (Analysis)……………………………………………………….………30 VI: Denouement (conclusions)………………………………………………………45 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………47 ! ! ! ! v List of Figures Figure 1: Story Content Between Groups……………………………….…..……..…36 Figure 2: Sources Between Groups………………………………………..….………37 Figure 3: Story Content Between Anonymous Events……………………..….…..….38 Figure 4: Sources Between Anonymous Events………………………………………40 Figure 5: Story Content Between Occupy Wall Street Events…………….…..…..…..41 Figure 6: Sources Between Occupy Wall Street Events……………………………….42 Figure 7: Story Content Between All Events………………………….……....….…..43 Figure 8: Sources Between All Events…………………………………………..……43 vi Glossary of Terms Group: The activist organization as a whole Event: The specific action performed by the group DDOS: Distributed Denial of Service: an online tactic that consists of flooding a website with requests, effectively slowing it to the point where it cannot be viewed. vii Timeline of Events February 2008: Operation Chanology marches against Scientology Centers around the world December 2010: Operation Payback launches DDOS attacks against Paypal after they stop processing donations to Wikileaks June 2011: Lulzsec hacks and defaces multiple government contractors’ websites September 2011: Occupy Wall Street begins October 2, 2011: Protestors arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge November 15, 2011: Protestors forced out of Zucotti Park ! viii Overture “We look at the world through windows on which have been drawn grids. [...] Through a window we view chaos, and relate it to the points on our grid, and thereby understand it.” -Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, p.49 ! This is the truth Much is known about activist movements. The elements and philosophies behind the formation, structure, mobilization, and evolution of revolutionary groups have been ex- amined through many lenses. This paper will not attempt to address most of them. This is the question This paper will investigate the ways in which contemporary activist movements can ef- fectively use protest events to deliver a message through the established press. Specifical- ly, it will look at how two apparently structureless organizations born out of “new” media conducted public relations with “old” media. This is the method -I collected a random sampling of all available news articles on LexisNexis reporting on six separate events involving two groups of actors (three events for each group) -For each story, across six paragraphs, I recorded which types of information were re- ported and which kinds of sources were used. -For information, I recorded whether or not the story contained… -Details about the protest action: size, nature, conflict (the ‘what’) ix -Details about the actors: appearance, behavior (the ‘who’) -Actors’ Motivation: Goal, issue, demand (the ‘why’) -Background: I there any information on the issue being addressed that ISNT di- rectly tied to how it related to the action or actors. NOTE: this is assumed to be the desired outcome from the actions. -For sources, I recorded whether or not the story cited for its information… -A spokesperson (individual) from the movement -A Press release from the movement -An Authority figure in conflict with the group -A 3rd party expert This is the answer From this information, I was able to find.. -How the content of coverage differed between the two groups -What relation, if any, the presence of a spokesperson had to the content -What relation, if any, the presence of an authority figure as a source had to the content. -When background was discussed, who was discussing it? ! ! ! !1 I: Prelude ! “Those who say a demonstration should be concerned with education rather than theater don’t understand either and will never organize a successful demonstration, or for that matter, a successful revolution” -Abbie Hoffman, Steal This Book, p.147 ! Take a moment, dear reader, to consider Today’s Radical Activist. What are the realities of the world he lives in? What are his complaints about that world? What chal- lenges does he face in making those complaints heard? Asked more succinctly: What does protest in 21st century America look like? The Radical Activist of Today grew up on the internet. She has instant access to more information than previous generations could imagine. Her voice can be available for the whole world to hear without the approval of broadcasters or publishers. Her rela- tionships are constrained not by distance, but by bandwidth. He sees a problem in the world, some injustice perpetrated by an established fig- ure of power or authority. Whether this belief would be traditionally classified as “right” or “left” on the political spectrum is not important to Today’s Radical Activist - or to this paper. The question is how he can make his belief heard - and considered. Today’s Radical Activist is not unique. Everyone has access and everyone has a voice. Gone is the all-powerful gatekeeper. Here there is noise, curated into personalized bubbles by algorithms or editors. Newsworthiness is matter of personal preference. One !2 can choose to avoid stories that contradict one’s world view. As information becomes more available, it becomes more ignorable. In search of a way to address the injustice she sees, today’s radical activist looks toward yesterday’s. Much is already known about what can help (or hinder) an activist’s attempts to amplify her voice through the megaphone of established media. For instance, protest actions are more likely to be covered if a law has been broken. They are less like- ly to be covered if the stories they tell don’t easily fit into a pre-existing media narrative. The appearance of large numbers invites coverage; the use of gimmicky or inclusive tac- tics alienates it. However, many lessons seem irrelevant in an internet age. The cost of entry to mobilize has been reduced to an internet connection. The array of available tactics has expanded from acting locally to acting globally in cyberspace. Having a spokesperson has become confusing when a movement is leaderless or anonymous. But even as the established press has lost its monopoly on information, it remains a powerful force in confirming the legitimacy and importance of an event as well as defining for the public the nature and character of the activists. In spite of the rapidly changing landscape, activists hoping to reach a wide audience must learn how to interact with the press in a way that the press understands. In the pages that follow, we will examine the ways in which Today’s Radical Ac- tivist has tried to influence discussion and change through new and old media. How does he try to identify himself and how is he ultimately identified? What message did she try !3 to convey and what message was heard? Ultimately, is the conversation that results about the issue at hand, or about the action that tried to address it? ! Let us begin. !4 II: Exposition ! “300 Police Use Tear Gas to Breach Young Militants' Barricade in Chicago Park; SHOUTING YOUTHS OPPOSE CURFEW Incident Follows March on Loop by Dis- senters, Angry Over Leaders' Arrest” -New York Times headline, August 27, 1968, Page 29 ! This chapter will summarize existing literature on the topic of the relationship be- tween protests group and mass media and will provide context for the cases which will be analyzed in this paper. A Little History Nearly half a century ago, there was an apparent revolution among the youth in America, fueled in part by an unpopular war in Vietnam and a cultural schism between generations. The protest events of that period and the coverage they received provided the foundation for much of the research on this subject. Scholars have come to recognize a “protest paradigm”: a trend in the way mass media covers protest, and that rarely works to the advantage of the protesters. Why Protest? The goal of a protest action, for the purposes of this paper, is to attract media at- tention and to use that attention to promote an idea. That idea might be a statement of a shared complaint (against the war), a shared desire (save the rainforest), or the casting of a spotlight on an issue (pay attention to chemtrails). Through staging a compelling event, the actors hope to amplify their voices to reach a wider audience. Operating under this !5 premise, the ideal protest action should generate coverage that discusses not only the event itself, but also the issues that inspired it. Message dissemination is not the only goal of a protest action, nor is it the only result. Even absent of media coverage, action can build a feeling of solidarity amongst the actors. With the addition of news coverage, it can build solidarity between the actors and like-minded readers, possibly even attracting new group members. Furthermore, the mere fact of having been covered by the mainstream press confers an air of legitimacy upon the actors and, by extension, their cause. Traditionally, the mass media has been seen as a ‘gatekeeper’ of information. By selecting which events are important enough to the general public to warrant printing and deciding how to frame those events within a larger narrative, media entities have the the- oretical ability to define how their viewers understand reality . The consequence of this is 1 that activists hoping to gain the wider public’s awareness must consider how their actions will be interpreted and relayed by the press. If the role of the press is to filter events to create a cohesive story, the job of activists is to fit into that story (even if they seek to ex- pose flaws in that story’s premises). It is advantageous, then, that many forms of protest are recognizable and their meanings generally understood by the public. Because of this familiarity, according to Oliver, “Experienced event organizers, police, and reporters are more like members of an Gamson, William A., et al. "Media Images and the Social Construction of Reality." Annual Review 1 of Sociology 18.1 (1992): 373-93. !6 improvisational troupe: the script is not fixed, but the players have worked together be- fore, they follow general guidelines, and they can predict each other's actions.” In other 2 words, there already exists a framework within which activists can operate that gives them a greater chance of being understood. Conversely, familiar-seeming actions can be misunderstood because the actor was unaware of how they have traditionally been inter- preted and given meaning. Getting Noticed The first step towards entering the shared narrative is to attract attention. The re- sourceful revolutionary has access to a wide range of non-violent tactics through which to spread a message. Gene Sharp’s From Dictatorship to Democracy alone lists 54 methods ranging from teach-ins to “haunting” officials. However, not all tactics are likely (or de 3 - signed) to attract media attention. Pamphleteering, or instance, may be effective at edu- cating a small audience, but it likely won’t attract reporters. Rallies, on the other hand, 4 are statistically the most likely events to attract coverage. 5 Many of the best practices known to public relations practitioners hold true for activists. It is important to plan actions for times most likely to need content, and to be Oliver, P. E., and D. J. Myers. "How Events Enter the Public Sphere: Conflict, Location, and 2 Sponsorship in Local Newspaper Coverage of Public Events." American Journal of Sociology 105.1 (1999): 43 Sharp, Gene: From Dictatorship to Democracy. Kirkus Media LLC, 2012: 79 3 Wouters, Ruud. "From the Street to the Screen: Characteristics of Protest Events as Determi 4 - nants of Television News Coverage." Mobilization: An International Quarterly 18.1 (2013): 96 Oliver 55 5 !7 aware of how a message might fit into issue cycles in the news. It is also advisable to maintain relationships with reporters, proving oneself to be reliable and trustworthy, pro- viding information and content that is helpful to the reporter’s needs. Within factors specific to the publication of protest actions, it is well documented that the greatest predictor of coverage is the appearance of large numbers. The presence 6 of a lot of participants in an action makes the event more physically noticeable due to the sheer size of the gathering. In addition, a greater number of people showing support for an idea suggests that a greater number of people would be interested in the story. Unfortunately, the size of an action is generally limited by the size of the activist group and the number of participants it mobilizes. Having exhausted its own member- ship, planners of an action can attempt to increase turnout by partnering with other like- minded and more established groups. However, this poses a risk of the more established organization taking the spotlight in coverage by virtue of its being more familiar to and connected with the press. The next best driver of coverage is the occurrence of violence, conflict, or police action at the event. To explain the importance of this variable, scholars point to the fact 7 that newspapers often have reporters on a crime ‘beat,’ but very rarely does it have re- Gitlin, Todd. The Whole World is Watching: Mass Media in the Making & Unmaking of the New 6 Left. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. Oliver 72 7 !8 porters assigned specifically to cover protest activities. On top of that, conflict is a key 8 element in compelling storytelling. Of course, there are drawbacks to instigating violence to attract attention (even disregarding the philosophical implications and the risk of injury and arrest). Being vio- lent in front of the press may lead to being portrayed as violent in the press. This is not advantageous to an actor trying to be perceived as a legitimate force for change. There is 9 one loophole available through which activists can take advantage of this phenomenon: being the victim of violence but not a participant in it can make an action newsworthy without casting aspersions upon the actors. Additionally, many have pointed to some characteristics of the group which affect the likelihood of press attention. Specifically, it helps to have a recognizable form of structure and a spokesperson or spokespeople who can speak for its entire membership. 10 Looking specifically at television coverage, another major factor in attracting me- dia attention is the use of symbolic imagery. Focusing on this variable has been called 11 the ‘logic of bearing witness’ and is described by Wouters as using “actions that are the- atrical happenings, carefully scripted and performed, in order to respond to mass media Smith, Jackie, et al. "From protest to agenda building: Description bias in media coverage of 8 protest events in Washington, DC." Social Forces 79.4 (2001): 1397-1423. Shoemaker, Pamela J. "THE PERCEIVED LEGITIMACY OF DEVIANT POLITICAL GROUPS 9 Two Experiments on Media Effects." Communication Research 9.2 (1982): 250 Smith 1399 10 Wouters 96 11 !9 criteria of news judgment.” Not only can symbolic visual elements help with message 12 reinforcement, they provide editors with useful visual content. While highly novel, symbolic, and theatrical protest action may have a better chance of winning coverage, they are not necessarily helpful with prominence or length of the reporting . Therefore, it may not lead to much discussion of the message behind 13 the actions. Being heard Even when an event is covered, it will not necessarily be covered prominently, positively, accurately, or deeply. Being portrayed inaccurately or negatively can potential- ly hurt a movement more than being ignored. While activists cannot control the habits 14 and possible biases of media figures, they can take steps to make sure that they present themselves and their message as clearly as possible. Whereas the number of members helps attract coverage, the cohesion and consistency between those members can help the chances of that coverage portraying a group that is a legitimate social actor with ideas worth considering. 15 Some scholars researching the dynamic between movements and media have de- scribed two separate ways in which protest events can be covered: thematically or episod- Wouters 88 12 Wouters 99 13 Smith 1398 14 Shoemaker 279 15 !10 ically. Thematic framing presents an event within the context of larger issues and 16 trends. Episodic framing, on the other hand, focuses the facts of the specific event. Among stories about protest actions, episodic coverage is about three times as prevalent as thematic coverage. Several factors coinciding with more thematic or more episodic 17 framing have been identified in existing research. For instance, even though the existence of conflict (counter-demonstrations, violence, or police action) can make the chances of receiving coverage more likely, that coverage tends to be more episodic and less likely to contain discussion of the motivating issues .* 18 Another, slightly ironic, fact is that articles using participant actors as its main sources are less likely to contain discussion of the issues than articles using authority fig- ures and third party experts. This may be because articles focusing on the activists are 19 more likely spend time discussing the individuals involved, or because journalists setting out to write about the motivation behind the action are more likely to reach out to expert sources to provide context, or a number of other theories. What it means for activists is Smith 1404. 16 *Note: This may only be true up until a certain point. Anecdotal evidence shows that the writings and mani- festos of mass killers are often repeated and pored over by the press. This is not to suggest that murder is ever in any way a viable, effective, or morally justifiable protest tactic; it is not. ! Id. 17 Smith 1412. 18 Smith 1414. 19 !11 that, even if their action generates discussion on their issue, their specific argument about that issue may not necessarily be represented in that discussion. It is important to remember that the nature of mass media is to interpret events as parts of a larger narrative that describes reality . As a word like ‘chair’ will be interpret 20 - ed in a set way among fluent English speakers (regardless of what the speaker intended it to mean), symbols like a picket line and terms like ‘conservative’ will be assumed to have a consistent meaning between events in a narrative. Though an activist group may choose to reject the accepted meaning of a symbol (and in fact, the express goal of an action may be to challenge conventional understandings), the need to explain the new definition is an added obstruction to overcome in order to effectively communicate its message. Activists who support beliefs that appear to be close to the accepted norms or within the range of what is already familiar are more likely to be portrayed and discussed as a legitimate. The further away from the perceived ‘center’ the activist group is, the higher the likelihood is that coverage will focus on its deviant aspects. Of course, hav 21 - ing more centrist beliefs is not a helpful option for an activist trying to promote a radical idea. But it may be possible for a radical idea to be framed in a way that makes it easier to exist in a more conventional context. ! ! Gamson 385. 20 Shoemaker 82. 21 !12 Potential Threats As mentioned above, there are a number of ways in which press coverage can be detrimental to a movement. Radical actors may be portrayed (explicitly or not) as dan- gerous, foolish, or ineffective. Their beliefs may be framed as extremist, anti-American, or meaningless. Their cause can be simplified or co-opted by established groups. They 22 can lose authenticity and credibility amongst themselves if they become too concerned with preventing this. The necessities of dealing with the press can aggravate rifts within a group when members compete to be its voice or define the meaning of its actions. The use of a spokesperson to maintain a consistent voice (literally and figurative- ly) simplifies the job of a reporter. A spokesperson can provide information about the group with more authority and consistency than a reporter’s personal observations would. It also makes the reporter’s life easier, freeing up writing time that would have otherwise been spent researching. But as mentioned above, a group may not be able to agree on who can claim to represent it. And as a spokesperson emerges (with or without the group’s consent), the focus of the coverage generated may shift from the group to the in- dividual (regardless of that individual’s intent). The press is not the only available record of events. In fact, the police force re- ports on a great deal many more protest events than the media does (providing the base- line against which many scholars have measured press coverage). Official statements and documents are generally assumed are easily available to and generally accepted as reli- Gitlin 28. 22 !13 able by journalists. Once a group its activities have been characterized by government 23 sources, it can become even harder for it to define itself to the public. If the sole aim of action is to communicate an idea, actors need only worry about how they are character- ized insofar as it impacts the perception of its message. An especially pernicious subset of official information is a criminal conviction, or even indictment, which not only enters a partial narrative of events into the public record but also carries the symbolic weight of associating its subject with criminality. A Little More History This section provides a very brief summary of some events that have effected the nature of political protest today: the topics they address and the individuals participating Nearly half a century after the Vietnam War was being protested (the police riots at 1968’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago took place exactly 44 years before this sentence was written), the protest paradigm may need to be re-examined. Much has changed in the time between the day reporters covered police using tear gas against pro- testors in Chicago and the day reporters covered police using tear gas against protestors in Ferguson, though much has remained constant. In 2001, there was major terrorist attack on American soil. The nation’s at-the- time Republican leadership made the decision to wage war in the Middle East. In addi- tion to military involvement, the war on terror included some increases to federal power and decreases to its citizens civil liberties. New and veteran activists emerged to protest, Smith 1402. 23 !14 gaining strength over the remaining course of George W. Bush’s presidency. In 2007, Barack Obama, a Democrat, was elected to the White House. Anti-war protests saw a significant decline their overall size, led by the loss of mostly democrat-leaning support- ers . 24 According to Pew, members of the millennial generation in America are the are the least likely to consider themselves to be patriotic, and only 32% consider America to be the greatest country in the world (compared to a national average of 48%). They are 25 also the least likely among generations to be politically engaged, and becoming even less so as of a 2012 poll Furthermore, while still predominantly identifying as liberal, the 26 gap between millennial members of either major party is declining and the number of those identifying as independent is increasing. However, millennials as a group are the 27 most most optimistic generation about America’s questions, with 49% stating they be- lieve that the country’s best years are ahead of it. 28 Heaney, Michael T., and Fabio Rojas. "The Partisan Dynamics of Contention: Demobilization of 24 the Antiwar Movement in the United States, 2007-2009." Mobilization: An International Quarterly 16.1 (2011): 59. Reilly, Katie. “A generational gap in American patriotism.” Pew Research Center, Washington, 25 D.C. (July 3, 2013) http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/03/a-generational-gap-in-amer- ican-patriotism/, Accessed on September 11, 2014. “Youth Engagement Falls; Registration Also Declines.” Pew Research Center, Washington, 26 D.C. (September 28, 2012) http://www.people-press.org/2012/09/28/youth-engagement-falls-reg- istration-also-declines/, Accessed on September 11, 2014. “Lagging Youth Enthusiasm Could Hurt Democrats in 2010.” Pew Research Center, Washing 27 - ton D.C. (October 7, 2010) http://www.pewresearch.org/2010/10/07/lagging-youth-enthusiasm- could-hurt-democrats-in-2010/, Accessed September 11, 2014 “Millennials in Adulthood.” Pew Research Center, Washington D.C. (March 7, 2014) http:// 28 www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/03/07/millennials-in-adulthood/, Accessed September 11, 2014 !15 The internet has radically shifted the media landscape. The means required to make a message hearable nationwide are now practically free. The volume of information available to the average citizen has increased massively, as has the range of outlets pro- viding such information. Simultaneously, those outlets have become specialized and frac- tured from each other, allowing their readers to become insulated from information or ideas outside of those that fit into the outlets narrative frame. This potentially offers a greater number of media that might embrace a political movement without alienating its narrowed audience, but makes reaching a broad audience with a single idea more diffi- cult. 29 In addition to new possibilities for people to become informed and engaged, so- cial media connectivity has made coordination more possible and on a larger scale for movement organizers. However, it hasn’t caused any clear change in the amount of polit- ical action taking place. 30 ! Pariser, Eli. The filter bubble: How the new personalized Web is changing what we read and 29 how we think. Penguin, 2011. Kelly Garrett, R. "Protest in an information society: A review of literature on social movements 30 and new ICTs." Information, communication & society 9.02 (2006): 218 !16 III: Anonymous "We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us." -Anonymous ! This chapter will introduce the group that is the subject of the first half of the cas- es analyzed for this paper and provide an overview of its activities. Born Online As a group that, by its nature, could not exist if not for internet technology, the hacktivist group Anonymous provides a case through which to study how the lessons learned by past activists apply in a digital age. Despite having an unconventional struc- ture and performing actions that are relatively new as protest tactics, the group attained some moderate success at winning news coverage. Anonymous began in the depths of the internet. At its origin, the name ‘Anony- mous’ was simply a literal attribute of users of the image posting website 4Chan. Once members of that online community, many of them skilled coders and hackers, began act- ing together to pull pranks and troll other communities, ‘Anonymous’ became an identity. Anonymous was expressly structureless; it had no official membership or leader- ship. Hardly any of the participants in its actions identified themselves individually. In theory, anyone could claim to be part of Anonymous, or act under that name, and it wouldn’t be demonstrably false. Yet, reports on its actions often portrayed ‘Anonymous’ !17 as more unified or centralized than it actually was. The fact that media would describe 31 unconventional actors in ways other than how they define themselves is not surprising given what is already known about media framing. The more interesting point is that, though inaccurate, the portrayal of the radical group as unified implied a greater amount of legitimacy than a more nuanced explanation would have. Anonymous was described in a 2011 indictment as “an online collective of indi- viduals that was associated with collective hacking attacks motivated by political and so- cial goals, often referred to as ‘hactivism,’” This is mostly accurate to the selection of 32 individuals involved in a specific action, but as whole, the group did not have unifying political goal as much as more general shared anti-authoritarian and anti-secrecy motiva- tions. What tied the group together under one identity was the use of shared language and imagery. A Little Bit about Hacktivism Hacktivism (activism through hacking) is a relatively new form of protest that seeks to disrupt digital space in the same way that traditional protest tactics disrupt physi- cal space to send a message. An early example of this occurred in 1998, when a group calling itself “Hacking for Girlies” defaced the New York Times website to express their anger at the conviction of famed hacker Kevin Mitnick. Retribution for government ac- Olson, Parmy. We are Anonymous: inside the hacker world of Lulzsec, Anonymous, and the 31 global cyber insurgency. Hachette Digital, Inc., 2012. Zetter, Kim. "Feds Arrest 14 'Anonymous' Suspects Over PayPal Attack, Raid Dozens More | 32 WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 17 July 11. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. !18 tions against their own would prove to be a recurring theme throughout hacktivist actions to come. Operation Chanology On February 10, 2008, masked protesters gathered outside Scientology centers across the nation and internationally. The impetus for this could be traced back to the leak of an internal video from the group featuring Tom Cruise. Legal attempts by Scientology to prevent its spread and remove the video from the internet attracted the ire of Anony- mous members that didn’t agree with the groups use of intellectual property law to stifle what it saw as the dissemination of valuable information. Anonymous held that the gen- eral public, especially those within the lower levels of the church, deserved to know about the tax-exempt organization as it could. The Church of Scientology already had a history of going to lengths to control the availability of its doctrines and materials. It was in the nature of this religion expose its adherents to different levels of teachings, which increased in importance and secrecy as the adherent moved up in levels of the organization. In addition to taking legal actions against those who spread this information outside of the church without permission, it would malign and harass through proxies its former members who spoke ill of the group in public. In mitigating this risk, the protest organizers within Anonymous suggested an element that would both extend internet anonymity into the physical world and become a powerful image for the group into its future: the mask. Specifically, the Guy Fawkes mask, made widely available as merchandise for the film ‘V for Vendetta’. !19 And so it came to pass that internet users were mobilized to the streets as mem- bers of a leaderless group that explicitly defied conventional definition. Their functional purpose was to draw attention to the (in their opinion) cult-like behaviors of the church. Organizers encouraged the attendance of former Scientologists and family members of current members, which lent the protest some amount of credibility and ensured the pres- ence of knowledgeable sources during their action. While the events of February 10 were the most outwardly visible, the campaign of Chanology extended to other actions and es- tablished the activist potential of Anonymous. OP Payback As 2010 progressed, a group named Wikileaks made headlines with the publica- tion of ‘Collateral Murder,’ a video showing a 2007 military air strike on Baghdad which killed two unarmed journalists. The events of the attack had been previously reported on, but the release of the video and the commentary it captured painted a more chilling view of the realities of the war. In the following months, Wikileaks released more state secrets including diplomatic cables and its leader, Julian Assange, came under fire. As govern- ment pressure led to financial companies refusing to process donations to the website, Anonymous found a new battle to fight. As with Scientology, the unifying rationale for action was the promotion of trans- parency. This time, however, the action took place not on the streets but online. The tactic of choice was a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. Described by some as a ‘vir- tual sit-in,’ a DDOS attack operates by flooding a website with so many requests that it !20 cannot be accessed. One of the primary targets of these ‘attacks’ was the e-commerce company PayPal - specifically its blog where it had announced dropping Wikileaks. Un- like a more malicious or damaging attack which could be the work of a single hacker, a DDOS action required a the simultaneous efforts of many computers at many IP address- es. In other words, by the nature of how the tactic works, it signals the existence of col- lective action. This was the meaning portrayed by many media accounts: that Paypal’s blog was brought down by the coordinated efforts of like-minded protesters across the internet. (ex: New York Times: “Web Attackers Find a Cause in WikiLeaks” 9/9/2010, The Guardian: “Thousands download LOIC software for Anonymous attacks - but are they making a difference?” 9/10/2010). This depiction actually painted the group in a more positive light than the reality of the situation. The method through which individuals could participate in this protest with anonymous was the use of a freely available application (the Low Orbit Ion Cannon, or LOIC) which automated the process of sending repeated requests to a website from the user’s computer. LOIC was the newest iteration of a tool intended to test how much traf- fic a site could handle but used by hacktivists (as well as malicious actors) to take down websites in years past. Because of the leaderless and structureless form of Anonymous, LOIC became the tool of choice not by any official strategic decision, but by being sup- ported and shared by the greatest number of participants. Therefore, there was no authori- tative source of information on how to use this technology, how it worked, or what nega- tive consequences could befall those who used it. While many of the most widely-shared !21 instructions for participation suggested that there were no legal risks to taking part , his 33 - tory would prove otherwise. Interestingly, even without the existence of any statements from the group that could be considered any more “official” than any others, much of the reporting about the actions against Paypal accurately described the motivation as being in retribution for the companies actions against Assange and Wikileaks. Lulzsec Lulz Security was an offshoot of Anonymous that was more inclusive and more focused on actual hacking (breaking into sites, taking information, and defacing web pages.) It existed only for only 50 days in 2011. Lulzsec made use of similar imagery and language recognizable as that of Anonymous, but added the twist of a nautical theme: they were pirates sailing the open seas of the internet. Although its mantra held that its motivation was purely “for the lulz” (laughs), its choice of targets demonstrated a trend of going after government figures and contractors it perceived as involved in the persecution of Wikileaks or other abuses of power. Lulzsec vandalized web pages, published email records security experts, and encouraged others to follow its example. Though Lulzsec had some success at attracting coverage of its (somewhat) politi- cal actions (its attack on security contractor HBGary yielded less than 30 articles), there is one major complication in studying it as an anti-authoritarian protest group. One of its Sauter, Molly. "“LOIC Will Tear Us Apart” The Impact of Tool Design and Media Portrayals in the 33 Success of Activist DDOS Attacks." American Behavioral Scientist 57.7 (2013): 1001 !22 key figures was an FBI informant. Hector Monsengur, known to Anonymous as Sabu, had been arrested for a previous hack of security contractor HBGary. As part of a deal to avoid prison, Sabu agreed to continue his activities with Anonymous and report on them to the FBI, even influencing the group’s activities at their request. Whatever political im- pact may have come from the Lulzsec’s actions against the government are thrown into question by the fact that they were being monitored and influenced by that government. Reliable Sources While, as a group, Anonymous could not sanction spokespeople to speak on be- half of the whole movement, the popularity of certain social accounts and the needs of journalists created some. The Twitter account AnonOps and the website AnonNews.net gradually became sorts of sites of record for the press to quote. There were also many videos produced for Youtube, often featuring computer generated readings of statements in the group’s name over stock footage and images recognizably connected to the group. Additionally, a few individuals became de facto media contacts. One was a free- lance journalist named Barrett Brown who embraced the movement’s actions and politics, but not its Anonymity. As an active participant who was familiar with the media, Brown was often called upon for background and commentary in reports. Another individual in- strumental in the public’s image of the group was Topiary (real name Jake Davis). Along with the occasional phone interview, Topiary was behind the writing of many of the group’s calls-to-action, announcements of success, and website defacements. In a sense, he was the group’s uncredited public voice. Both Brown and Davis were instrumental in !23 shaping how the public saw Anonymous, and both paid a price for their visibility brought them to the attention of the police. ! ! !24 IV: Occupy Call: Whose streets? Response: Our streets! -The 99% ! This chapter will introduce the group that is the subject of the second half of the cases analyzed for this paper and provide an overview of its activities. Background In September 2011, activists confused and excited the nation by setting up camp in a New York City park as part of a major protest movement. Though the action was in- spired by the magazine Adbusters, the movement itself was leaderless and non-hierarchi- cal. Within the various local iterations, occupiers collectively made decisions about how to conduct actions at ‘general assemblies.’ However, while the method of unanimous con- sent defined what the movement was doing, it never resulted in a concise political mes- sage or demand beyond a claim to represent ‘The 99%.’ This number came to illustrate the income disparity between the nation’s wealthiest individuals and everybody else. Week One The beginning of the occupation was not met with much fanfare or understanding. Actually, a number of articles from the first week commented on the lack of coverage from other journalists (Al Jazeera “'Occupy Wall Street': A media blackout?” : . Mem 34 - "'Occupy Wall Street': A Media Blackout?" Al Jazeera English. (October 8, 2011.) http://www.al 34 - jazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2011/10/201110875949746728.html Accessed September 11, 2014 !25 bers and critics began to allege that the established media was willingly ignoring the oc- cupation, for political, corporate, or conspiratorial reasons. The accusation of a media blackout is nothing new from protest groups that question the established order, especial- ly against the idea of capitalism. In spite of a less-than-desirable amount of coverage (the first week yielding a dozen articles), the movement gained momentum in the coming weeks and months, growing in size and inspiring similar encampments across America. As it turned out, the topic of income inequality that came to be the occupation’s major theme was one that some members of the press were ready to discuss. Some have suggested that the Occupy movement gave the media a focal point through which to re- address a dormant conversation about the state of the economy in the aftermath of a re- cession and some less-than-popular bailouts of major financial institutions. That is, a me- dia narrative only existed for the events of occupy to be the latest character in. The phrase ‘99%’ and the topic of income inequality increased in prominence. The only requirement for one to be a member of Occupy Wall Street was that they do just that - occupy Wall Street. In theory, anyone could take part in the movement and count theirs as part of the voice of the people. In practice, its membership was not a pro- portionally representative image, demographically or psychographically, of the lower- earning 99% of America. Coverage of the Occupy did not generally fail to mention this discrepancy, and often highlighted the most radical elements in its own representations. Again, this is not unexpected given what has been observed in past cases. ! !26 Winter is Coming Despite some effort, Occupy Wall Street never agreed among itself on what de- mand their protest was making, fueling ridicule from some of its critics . In spite of this, 35 Occupy maintained a noteworthy presence in multiple cities through the month of No- vember. By this point, there was no longer any impression of a media black-out, though complaints of being portrayed in ways that downplayed the movement’s legitimacy as a political actor would persist. Many within the movement also observed that, though the anti-establishment protest was being reported on, established figures were interpreting their message through an established frame to make established arguments . Support 36 from (mostly liberal) groups and individuals gave the movement more positive visibility, but imposed outside meanings onto it. The support of Director Michael Moore, for exam- ple, was said by some participants to have done more harm than good to the movement’s image. 37 Staying true to form, a major driver of press coverage of Occupy was police ac- tion against the occupiers . Incidents of mass arrests, forced evictions, and indiscrimi 38 - nate pepper spraying gained massive attention and emboldened the movement. But while Montopoli, Brian. “Occupy Wall Street: More Popular Than You Think.” CBS News. (October 35 13, 2011.) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/occupy-wall-street-more-popular-than-you-think/ Ac- cessed September 11, 2014. Bray, Mark. "Confronting the many men in suits: rethinking the ‘positive’coverage of Occupy 36 Wall Street." Critical Quarterly 54.2 (2012): 6. Bray 7. 37 Calhoun, Craig. "Occupy Wall Street in perspective." The British journal of sociology 64.1 38 (2013): 31. !27 police involvement may have the long term benefits of attracting attention, garnering sympathy, and building solidarity , the negative consequences (legal trouble, physical 39 injury) are much more immediate and tangible. The fact that journalists were arrested in several cases gave the media an added a more personal element of the action to cover: 40 how the freedom of the press was or was not being respected by the police force. Eviction Occupy Wall Street’s occupation of Zucotti Park came to a climactic end on No- vember 15, 2011. In the interests of safety, sanitation, and the park’s private owner, the police forced an evacuation. Back in October, members defied an order to vacate so the park could be cleaned, worried that the loss of the physical space would mean the end of the movement. Their fears were realized when a late-night police raid emptied the park. Though the Occupy movement did not end that night, it suffered a significant loss it would not recover from. “In nation-state, individual speaks for group; in Occupy, group speaks for individ- ual!” In spite of Occupy’s seeming rejection of spokespeople and official statements, analogs for these elements did emerge. One such feature characteristic to the movement served both practically and symbolically as the group’s public voice: the human micro- McLeod, Douglas M., and James K. Hertog. "The Manufacture of Public Opinion by Reporters: 39 Informal Cues for Public Perceptions of Protest Groups." Discourse & Society 3.3 (1992): 259-275. “PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2011/2012” Reporters Without Borders http://en.rsf.org/press-free 40 - dom-index-2011-2012,1043.html Accessed September 11, 2014 !28 phone. The tactic of having many members repeat - and therefore amplify - the voices of individuals became a recognizable part of Occupy’s image. As with Anonymous’ adop- tion of the Guy Fawkes mask, the human microphone was born from necessity: electronic voice amplification was forbidden in many of areas they protestors occupied. Beyond fa- cilitating communication within the group, the medium of the human mic carried an im- plicit message: the words of the amplified would only be heard via active participation (and perhaps approval) of the amplifiers. Depending on the witness, this practice was ei- ther inspiring, cult-like, or just silly (especially when paired with the occupiers’ finger- wigglings of agreement). Though the human mic did garner coverage and commentary, the actual contents of the amplified messages were rarely quoted in the media (one example was found in the Guardian: “ The park remains open 24 hours a day… But the park is still ours,”). This can be attributed both to the nature of the messages (often concerning intra-group orga- nizing and debate), and to its appearance as a novel form of communication. As previous- ly discussed, a focus on form above intended function is to be expected in coverage of unestablished or unrecognized tactics. Another much more familiar form of spokesperson for the group emerged in the form of legal representation. In order to act within the legal system, either to negotiate rights to demonstrate in public spaces or to protect arrested members, it became neces- sary to allow legal professionals to speak for the group - albeit in a limited fashion. Inter- ested lawyers could of course represent any individual who requested it, but representing !29 the group as a whole required unanimous approval of the General Assembly. Thus, the authority granted to the lawyers who were approved to speak for Occupy was limited mostly to specific matters concerning the behavior of law enforcement. 41 Finally, the publicly recognized voice of Occupy came from the internet. As seen with Anonymous’ DDOS operation, websites providing information on how to organize and become involved were the most visible and accessible source of record for the group’s actions. Principal among these was Adbusters, which had published the initial call to action, but as the movement evolved and diversified, so did the websites. Again, these gained the air of being ‘official’ statements only because of their popularity, as any- one could post information for or about the group. In addition, anyone present for the ac- tions and possessing the necessary technology could broadcast video of the protest world- wide. Occupy may have still garnered significant attention in a pre-internet age, but the fact that many protesters were streaming live video of the events lent their authenticity to their accounts and provided the media with visual content to make use of. ! ! ! Marton, Janos D. "Representing an Idea: How Occupy Wall Street's Attorneys Overcame the 41 Challenges of Representing Non-Hierarchical Movements." Fordham Urb. LJ 39 (2011): 1107. !30 V: Findings “Our official culture is striving to force the new media to do the work of the old.” -Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage ! This chapter will explain how data was collected for this paper and attempt to make sense of that data. Rationale For the purposes of this paper, the author chose to examine two activist move- ments that were made possible through means only available in a digital age. Both groups were also similar in that they had little to no barrier to entry (anyone could claim mem 42 - bership) and no expressed structure (nobody could claim to represent the group as a whole). Functional novelty and organizational disorder are both known to be negative attributes within the protest paradigm. In spite of these barriers to successful media rela- tions, both groups were covered in national news - and not entirely negatively. Both groups are still active. This paper uses the past tense to refer to their activities at the time of the cases described herein. Anonymous, for the most part, existed privately: organizing in encrypted chat- rooms and acting behind proxy IP addresses and Guy Fawkes masks. Occupy Wall Street took place (literally) in public space, with assemblies that were open to anyone and broadcast live online. How did the level of access available to journalists affect the result- ing coverage? In the majority of the cases, Anonymous acted online, using methods not !31 familiar as protest tactics. Would this result in more time spent explaining what they did and less time explaining why? Occupy Wall street used more familiar tactics, but its mes- sage wasn’t as well defined. Would reporters try to explain the complexities, fill in their own interpretations, or ignore the topic altogether? Within both groups, the author chose three events to collect and analyze news coverage from. Within Anonymous, the “Chanology” Scientology protests were chosen because they marked the first major political action by the group and because it was their only protest action in physical space. The “Operation Paypack” Paypal DDOS attacks were chosen because they apparently had the highest amount of participation out of the group’s actions. Finally, the offshoot group Lulzsec was chosen because, though its par- ticipants were much fewer and more exclusive than the previous two cases, it most con- sciously made use of public relations. For this paper, data represented this group is gath- ered from coverage of its announcement that it had disbanded as it presented the largest sample size of any one event). why did I choose these events Within Occupy Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge arrests of October 2 were select- ed because they occurred early on in the movement’s history and the police action, as ex- pected, provided a boost in news coverage. Secondly, the author chose the days before and after the group’s eviction from Zuccoti Park on November 15 to compare how the group was covered at its apparent peak before and after there was major police action to report on. !32 ! ! Methodology: Article Collection Using the service LexisNexis, the author collected news articles covering the aforementioned six events. Articles were then randomly selected for coding using a ran- dom number generator on Random.org. The following is a record of the queries submit- ted and the articles returned. Chanology Date range: 2/10/2008 - 2/12/2008 Search terms: scientology OR scientologist AND protest OR march OR demonstration OR picket Results: 19 articles found - 2 invalid = 17 article sample OP Payback Date range: 12-9-2010 thru 12-11-2010 Search terms: paypal AND attack OR hack OR protest OR ddos Results: 243 articles found, 28 randomly chosen Lulzsec Date Range: 06/26/2011 - 06/27/2011 Search terms: lulzsec Results: 61 articles found, 14 randomly chosen Brooklyn Bridge Arrests !33 Date Range: 10/01/2011 thru 10/02/2011 Search Terms: occupy AND brooklyn bridge Results: 22 articles found, 12 Randomly chosen Occupy Pre Eviction Date Range: 11/14/2011 Search Terms: occupy wall street Results: 125 articles found, 15 randomly chosen Occupy Eviction Date Range: 11/15/2011 thru 11/16/2011 Search terms: occupy wall street Results: 340 articles found, 16 randomly chosen NOTE: Duplicate articles and articles shorter than 4 paragraphs were removed Methodology: Data Coding For the first five paragraphs of each article, the author used the program Qualtrics to record ten variables, seven of which were ultimately used for analysis. The first four variables (action, actor, motivation, and background) measured the focus of the article and the remaining three (spokesperson, PR, authority) measured the sources used by the. Below are the definitions and rules that were used for coding: Action (What) Any description or explanation of the protest event itself. ! !34 Actor (Who) Any description of the participants in the action, individually or as a whole. This includes how they look, act, identify, and behave during the protest action as well as biographical information Motivation (Why) Any mention of why the action is taking place. This includes the name of an issue or event being objected to or an idea being supported. Background (Discussion) Any mention of the motivating factor NOT as it relates to the protest action. Includes his- torical, statistical, or anecdotal information about the issue being addressed. Spokesperson Any quotes or information attributed to the protest group or a member of the protest group. Includes information introduced with phrases like “X said,” and “Y announces” and “according to Z” unless otherwise specified in the article. P.R. Materials Any quotes or information attributed to material produced by the protest group. Includes references to websites, videos, fliers, banners, etc. Authority Any quotes or information attributed to government officials or representatives of the ac- tion’s target. Includes public statements, interview quotes, and anything on the public record. !35 ! Disclaimers Due to the small sample size and the lack of research personnel needed to perform blind testing, it is impossible to use the data presented here to prove anything with cer- tainly. Therefore, the remainder of this chapter will constitute a descriptive analysis comparing the content of news coverage about the two groups, but will only offer possi- ble explanations for why those differences exist - if they do exist at all - and suggestions for further research. Analysis One of the first things that becomes apparent in this data is a clear hierarchy in the descriptive content. This is not surprising, as there would be little reason to report on a person’s motivation for an action without first reporting on the person and the action. Figure 1 (below) shows the average number of paragraphs in an article in which the con- tent variable is present, up to five paragraphs. For all events combined, the action was present in an average of 4.27 paragraphs, the actor in 2.22 paragraphs, the motivation in 1.54 paragraphs and background information in just 0.38 paragraphs. Figure 1 also illus- trates that the downward trend suggested by the the cases taken as a whole was experi- enced differently by both groups. This will be discussed more later. ! ! ! !36 fig. 1 The data collected on story content re-enforces something that is already known: getting an issue covered through protest action is hard, even when that action is being re- ported on. Furthermore, getting an issue discussed is near impossible (in fact, it didn’t happen once in the Occupy Wall Street articles analyzed). As predicted by the protest paradigm, there does appear to be a tendency towards the use of official sources. Figure 2 (below) shows the percent of articles in which the given sources are used. Overall, authority sources were present in 37.3% of articles, spokespeople were in 31.4% of articles, and P.R. materials were used in 27.5% of articles. Again, there are apparent differences between groups that will also be discussed later. ! ! ! 0 1.25 2.5 3.75 5 Action Actor Motivation Background Anon Occupy Full set !37 fig. 2 The author also compared the content of articles to the sources used. For instance, the background content of was compared between articles that cited a spokesperson and articles didn’t. There were few findings of any significance from these comparisons, due in part to the small sample size. However, within the set of Anonymous cases, the inclu- sion of an authority source corresponded to a reduction in action prominence by 0.54 paragraphs (F 2.711, Sig 0.106). Within the same set, the use of PR materials correspond- ed to a 0.7899 paragraph increase for action (F 7.712, Sig. 0.008). Within Occupy Wall Street, spokesperson quotes corresponded to a 0.2521 paragraph increase in action (F 3.348, Sig. 0.074). Within Anonymous When comparing different events within the Anonymous movement, the author was conscious of several differing factors which may have influenced the nature of the 0 12.5 25 37.5 50 Authority Spokesperson PR Materials Anon overall Occupy Overall Full set !38 fig. 3 coverage it received. The first event (Chanology) had a physical presence, while the latter two took place almost entirely in cyberspace. OP Payback (and to a lesser extent, Chanology) occurred in the midst of pre-existing media attention in the issue it addressed. For its part, Lulzsec had the most organized and deliberate PR effort of the three. With these distinctions in mind, the author expected Chanology to present greatest amount of content on the actors and the greatest number of spokesperson quotes due to the physical availability of participants. OP Paypack was expected to greatest amount of background information because of how it fit into the news cycle. Lulzsec presented the author with some difficulty when coding the “motivation” variable because the group’s most often pronounced position was that it was doing it “for the lulz.” While it is likely true that its members were motivated in part by their own amusement, they also provided 0 1.25 2.5 3.75 5 Chanology OP Payback Lulzsec Action Actor Motivation Background !39 the antisec (anti-security) movement as the rationale for their actions. Lulzsec also 43 posed a challenge because it had been infiltrated by the FBI and the implications that may or may not have had on the amount and quality of information provided by authority sources were unclear. Figure 3 (above) shows the average number of paragraphs in which each content variable appeared in news coverage of each Anonymous event. As expected, Chanology yielded the greatest amount of coverage of its participants and OP Payback returned the most background information. It is worth noting here that unlike in either the Occupy Wall Street (as will be shown below) or the full set of cases, the actor is not consistently more prominent than the motivation (2.78 vs. 2.42, 1.9 vs. 2.40, and 1.1 vs. 1.4). A low amount of description about an anonymous movement is not surprising, but the fact that the linear downward trend seen in the overall data isn’t present in two protest cases is in- teresting. This may suggest that it could be possible for a protest group to avoid the need for a media-friendly face or the risk of shifting attention to individual members, yet still use the media to its advantage. When comparing the sources used by event (Figure 4, above), the two events with lower rates of the “actor” variable (OP Payback: 1.96, Lulzsec: 1.1) also have lower rates of “spokesperson” citations (OP Payback: 13.8, Lulzsec: 7.1). It appears that by utilizing PR materials, groups may be able to communicate their message more clearly and with ! “50 Days of Lulz” Pastebin. Accessed september 11, 2014 <http://pastebin.com/1znEGmHa> 43 !40 fig. 4 less chance for distraction. However, the opposite appears to be shown for Occupy Wall Street (Figure 5, Figure 6, below). Within Occupy Wall Street Unlike the events chosen for Anonymous, the articles collected for Occupy Wall Street represent different moments in one ongoing event : the occupation of Zucotti Park. This allows a rough timeline to be constructed around major developments within the oc- cupation. One point that stands out is the switch in the use of sources between the days before (Authority: 50%, Spokesperson: 43.6%) and after (Authority: 43.8, Spokesperson: 56.3) the Zucotti Park eviction. Another is that “motivation” decreased over time, sug- gesting the group’s message became more ill-defined as the movement evolved. The difference in the use of “spokesperson” and “authority” sources between the dates before and after the eviction reinforces the idea that police action can be a positive influence on a group’s depiction in the media, but may not impact the chances of issue 0 25 50 75 100 Chanology OP Payback Lulzsec Authority Spokesperson PR Materials !41 coverage. The steady rise in both the “actor” content variable and the “spokesperson” source variable also reinforces what is already understood about the media’s tendency to focus on individuals. The drop in “authority” sources after the eviction actually ran con- trary to the expectations of author, who reasoned that the reports on police action would call for more, rather than less, input from officials. A possible explanation for this is that being the subject of police acton made the protestors appear more sympathetic and a more dramatic inclusion to the story told in the article. fig. 5 ! ! ! ! ! 0 15 30 45 60 Brooklyn Bridge Pre Eviction Post eviction Authority Spokesperson PR Materials !42 fig 6. ! Between Cases When comparing the story content variables between groups (Figure 7, below), a few generalizations can be made. Occupy Wall Street received a slightly higher amount of both “action” and “actor” content, perhaps due to the physical presence, high amount of visual participation, and widespread nature of its activities. Anonymous, on the other hand, garnered more coverage of its motivation. This can be attributed in part to the in- clusive nature of Occupy Wall Street’s message. It may also be true that, due to the nature of online discourse, more popular ways to represent the group rose above those which were less shared and repeated, whereas in Occupy’s general assemblies each individual idea has one individual voice. ! ! 0 1.25 2.5 3.75 5 Brooklyn Bridge Pre Eviction Post eviction Action Actor Motivation !43 fig 7 ! fig 8. 0 1.25 2.5 3.75 5 Action Actor Motivation Background Chanology OP Payback Lulzsec Brooklyn Bridge Pre Eviction Post eviction 0 25 50 75 100 Authority Spokesperson PR Materials Chanology OP Payback Lulzsec Brooklyn Bridge Pre Eviction Post eviction !44 The differences in sources used between groups is more apparent but less surpris- ing. Anonymous saw more PR materials and fewer spokespeople used, which matches what they made available. This may also be the case for the differences in authority sources: there were police officers physically on the scene for Occupy Wall Street where- as the FBI’s involvement in Lulzsec happened behind closed doors. To reach more con- clusive answers for why these disparities exist, more research must be done. !45 VI: Denouement Come writers and critics / Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide / The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon / For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who / That it's namin' For the loser now / Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin’. -The Times They Are A-Changin, Bob Dylan ! Vague Grand Hopes The data presented in the previous chapter suggested that that lack of a physical presence, conventional protest tactic and official spokesperson may not be a complete hinderance to a protest group hoping to achieve media legitimacy, or at least to have an influence on the issues being discussed in mass media. The discrepancies between the coverage of Anonymous and the coverage of Occupy Wall Street suggest that a more im- portant factor than the apparent structure of a group is the clarity and consistency of the message being presented. The fact that Anonymous message was clearer may be at- tributable to the filtering nature of digital media, or to the fact that Anonymous was not always as decentralized in its operations as it sometimes portrayed itself to be. The data also suggests that, while news media does have an apparent predilection for covering individual personalities within the group, such information being available is not necessarily a prerequisite for more in-depth coverage. (While the fact that a political actor can have anonymous influence is neither encouraging or unheard of, the idea that it can be done without funding a political action committee is a somewhat hopeful one). !46 Could it be possible for a loosely structured, faceless organization with a clear objective to emerge as a sustainably legitimate political voice? Time will tell. ! New And Troubling Questions If internet-based activism and mobilization becomes more common-place and recognized as a protest form, will a new protest paradigm emerge? As the state of media continues to evolve, how will activist groups need to adapt to succeed more through algorithms and less in established gatekeepers? When a leaderless group is reported as making a statement, what authority can verify that the statement truly represents that group? - ! ! !47 Bibliography ! “50 Days of Lulz” Pastebin. Accessed september 11, 2014 <http://pastebin.com/1znEGmHa> ! 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Abstract (if available)
Abstract
In a world where anyone can broadcast his or her message and everything has become familiar, what's a radical activist to do?
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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Aronsohn, Andrew Jacob Benjamin
(author)
Core Title
Revolution for the Lulz, or, An exploration of protest in the age of new media
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Strategic Public Relations
Publication Date
10/24/2014
Defense Date
09/24/2014
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
Anonymous,Lulz,OAI-PMH Harvest,Occupy,Protest
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Thorson, Kjerstin (
committee chair
), Kotler, Jonathan (
committee member
), Le Veque, Matthew (
committee member
)
Creator Email
andrewaronsohn@gmail.com,aronsohn@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-509258
Unique identifier
UC11288197
Identifier
etd-AronsohnAn-3032.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-509258 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-AronsohnAn-3032.pdf
Dmrecord
509258
Document Type
Thesis
Rights
Aronsohn, Andrew Jacob Benjamin
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
Lulz
Occupy