Symbolic Power and Symbolic Annihilation in Online Media Coverage of the Government Shutdown of 2013

Background/Purpose:

With America’s increasing reliance upon smart phones, tablets, and laptops, Americans find themselves turning more and more to online mediums for entertainment, socialization, commerce, and information. In fact, Americans now find themselves spending the majority of their waking lives consuming media – consumption of online media increasing at a rate that far exceeds that of all other mediums. Because of this, social scientists must explore the potential social consequences of our increasingly digitized social world.

The stated purpose of this study is to consider whether or not the concerns of society’s elites and that of the marginalized are being equally represented within online media. The primary research question is: To what extent did online news cover the government shutdown’s implications for and relevance to persons occupying non-dominant intersections of race, class, gender, age, and geographic locale compared to that of elites?

The media’s considerable influence over public agenda items was firmly established decades ago. As Bourdieu pointed out, inclusion within this medium offers the included group(s) the power to influence what people see, think, and believe about themselves and their world (“symbolic power”), whereas their exclusion offers what Gerbner and Gross termed “symbolic annihilation.”  As a social worker, I entered into this study particularly concerned with the consequences of the symbolic annihilation of “those vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.”

Methods:

This study employed content analysis to inductively code online news articles published during the shutdown of 2013.  For its 16-day duration – once a day and at the same time of day – I collected top news stories from the 5 most visited news/information sites in the US: Yahoo News!, CNN, MSNBC, Google News, and The New York Times.  I then used content analysis to identify the primary topic of the article and to code each article’s content.  Additionally, each was coded as: (a) primarily concerned with the interests of society’s elites; (b) representing the interests and plight of those occupying non-dominant intersections; or (c) that of which’s concern was neutral/both.

Results:

Several prominent themes emerged. Top news that appeared on these most visible news/information sites during the shutdown: (1) predominantly addressed the concerns and interests of elites, (2) predominantly featured quotes from men, and (3) people occupying society’s more marginalized intersections were rarely quoted or given voice, compared to that of elites.

Conclusions/Implications:

Online media for the duration of the government shutdown of 2013, primarily presented the shutdown’s implications for and relevance to society’s elites, neglecting that of those occupying society’s marginalized intersections. The implications of this being that through this medium, so central to the lives of Americans, those who occupy the more oppressed intersections of race, class, gender, age, and geography are not being equally represented within online media. Rather, they face decreased visibility, and thus their consideration within this medium so central to establishing our public agenda and national life, imperceptible – symbolically annihilated. This is an obstacle for social work driven public policy aimed at easing the burden of all those “vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.”