Hybrid mediation opportunity structure? A case study of Hong Kong’s Anti-National Education Movement

Abstract

This article assesses how social movements make use of media, and how their media practices influence movement outcomes using a case study of the Anti-National Education Movement in Hong Kong. It contributes to the literature on this important protest event and to ongoing debates about changes in the relationship between media and protesters. It is argued that activists adapted to what we call a “hybrid mediation opportunity structure.” The concept of a hybrid mediation opportunity structure is built on a critical engagement with Cammaerts’ mediation opportunity structure and is informed by Chadwick’s hybrid media system theory. We find that old (mainstream) and new (social) media tactics were deployed interdependently in a hybrid, symbiotic process. Old and new media logics fed off each other, in turn producing new logics: hybrid mediation opportunities which enabled activists to simultaneously broaden their connective networks and capture the attention of news media to publicize and legitimize their collective protests.

Mediating memories: Individual remembering of two mass protests in Hong Kong

“…For those who took part in the facsimile campaign in 1989, they believed that it was an open information environment, and they could participate with their own means. These findings echo recent debates in social movement studies which have noted how the proliferation of user-generated content and the emphasis on participatory culture in the digital age bred new protest logics and new mediation opportunity structure (Cammaerts, 2012; Wong and Wright, 2020). In retrospect, protesters always strived to make use of available means to advocate for their causes and mobilize others for actions.…”

Exploring protest tourism motivations: The case of Hong Kong

“…Traditional and social media outlets have covered the street protests in Hong Kong (Ho, 2019; Kan, 2019; Wang, 2019; Wong and Wright, 2020). Many of the previously ill-informed are now acquainted with what Hong Kong citizens want and what that means to China.…”

Variables de éxito mediático de los movimientos sociales. El 15-M y la PAH en España

“…Firstly, political opportunities refer to the political context in which protests develop (McCurdy, 2012). Secondly, media opportunity structures (Cammaerts, 2012;Wong & Wright, 2020) may facilitate, in certain circumstances, access of activists to mainstream media. Finally, it is also possible to differentiate a discursive opportunity structure, defined as the aspects of the public discourse that determine the likelihood of a message to be disseminated within the public sphere (Alonso & Casero, 2016;Rohlinger, 2002).…”