Framing the Abortion Debate: Organizational Resources, Media Strategies, and Movement-Countermovement Dynamics

Abstract

This study examines how ideologically opposed social movement organizations, the National Organization for Womcn (NOW) and Concerned Women for America (CWA). get media coverage during critical moments of the abortion debate. I analyze how organizational structure and identity facilitate or constrain a social movement organization's ability to get mainstream media coverage. Specifically, 1 use the social movement framing literature to analyze how the organizations strategically construct media frames and packages in response to opposition, the tactics they use to get media coverage, and the relative succcss of each organization's efforts in mass media outlet5. The analysis suggests that an organization's media strategy matters, but that organizational structure and organizational identily color these strategies.One of the best ways to develop press relations is to know how a particular newspaper or broadcast station operates. Make friends with reporters or newscasters who are sympathetic to the issues. They can be strong allies. Remember, publicity means "information with news value" issued as a means of gaining public attention, recognition, understanding or support for a person, an organization, an institution or a cause.National Organization for Women Records (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe lnstitute at Harvard University) Conservative groups did not understand media or its importance then [ten years ago] as much as they do now. [Now they understand that] media is the name of the game and whoever frames the issue wins the argument.

Interpretação e ação coletiva: o “enquadramento interpretativo” no estudo de movimentos sociais

“…Tais respostas são interpretadas pela literatura ora como uma opção entre os pólos da ideologia e da estratégia (Westby 2005;Zhao 2010), ora como a tendência ao uso de diferentes tipos de molduras interpretativas (Pereira 2014). Ainda, as origens dessas respostas são diferentemente interpretadas, procurando-se explicações em diferenças nas capacidades organizativas dos grupos (Rohlinger 2002;Zhao 2010); em diferenças na importância relativa e nas características das ideologias e identidades das organizações (Rohlinger 2002;Westby 2005); ou na existência de distintas lógicas de ação que interagem com dinâmicas interativas contingentes (Pereira 2014).…”

The Effects of Cueing and Framing on Youth Attitudes towards Gun Control and Gun Rights

“…Jacoby (2000) shows that public opinion towards government spending is affected by the manner in which the issue is presented. Ferree (2003) and Rohlinger (2002) find that social movement organizations have used the power of framing to influence the media attention and the public discourse surrounding the debate on abortion rights. Several studies show that beliefs about environmental policy can be shaped by information cues to make policies feel more salient.…”

The case of the Women's United Soccer Association : explaining the rise and fall of a social movement organization.

“…Rohlinger (2002) This study was done by examining two SMOs involved in the abortion debate, one on the pro-choice side, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the other on the pro-life side, the Concerned Women for America (CWA), and the ways each chose to package its messages to the media. By following the media coverage of three momentous court cases in the abortion debate, one of which was considered a success for the pro-life movement and two seeming to be a wash, the researcher investigated four areas: (a) the preferred way each SMO chose to package its organization during these critical events, (b) the strategies used by each, (c) the way the packaging of the media messages did or did not change during these critical events, and (d) media coverage outcomes in the mainstream media.…”

“…Additionally, the researcher conducted interviews and explored archival files. A content analysis was then conducted in four national publications following each of the court cases mentioned above (Rohlinger, 2002). Rohlinger (2002) found "the media strategies that SMOs use to influence coverage matter" (p. 500).…”

“…A content analysis was then conducted in four national publications following each of the court cases mentioned above (Rohlinger, 2002). Rohlinger (2002) found "the media strategies that SMOs use to influence coverage matter" (p. 500). NOW was found to view the media as a way influence change and made doing so a primary objective, while the CW A considered the media to be be hostile to its pro-life messages and chose to focus on grassroots efforts over the mainstream media.…”