University Protests: Why Agreements got a Mere 1% of the Headlines
In his recent contributor article for Forbes, Subbu Vincent looks at the imbalance between media reporting relating to protest conflicts vs. agreements and resolutions that happened within the same time period.
During April 29 to May 3, there was a clear peak in news coverage of student protests on U.S. university campuses over the war in Gaza. Several universities, notably Columbia and UCLA, were the scenes of conflict, escalation of tensions, violence, and police action. A little over 2000 stories were published by one hundred U.S. news outlets during this five day peak. But a mere 23 stories, or 1%, ran with headlines about agreements that some universities struck with students during the same period. Headlines in particular are key signals of elevation in journalism. At the heart of this chasm is a story of news values.
Subramaniam Vincent, director, journalism and media ethics, published by Forbes.