Social Movements as a Dialogic Process: Framing, Background Expectancies, and the Dynamics of the Anti-CNN Movement

Abstract: In 2008, CNN’s reports on the Lhasa Riots angered Chinese students and triggered the large-scale Anti-CNN Movement. By examining posts on the movement’s website, 310 news articles, and eighteen in-depth interviews, this study identifies the prevailing mentalities of the episode’s primary actors–the U.S. media, students, and the Chinese media, and analyzes how their mentalities shaped their framing strategies and their interpretations of others’ frames. We call for a shift of focus from the traditional media frame and movement frame to a perspective that sees the dynamics of media-related social movements as a dialogical process bounded by actors’ background expectancies.