Digital-Age Resistance: Journalism, Social Movements and the Media Dependence Model(Internationalizing Media Studies)

In this trailblazing book, social movements, the mainstream news media and public policy are tackled in order to arm readers with an "intellectual self-defense" of the reign of trillion-dollar-valued platform conglomerates, reality TV presidencies of the past and present, the pandemic and the Biden administration. Firmly situated at the intersection of journalism, activism and the deployment of power, the author places his analysis within an international context that further develops a critical paradigm, called the media dependence model (MDM). Featuring a foreword by Daniel and Noam Chomsky and a preface by Robert W. McChesney, the book offers a cutting-edge overview of the news media landscape both within the United States and globally. The MDM critically analyzes dichotomous patterns of mainstream press coverage of the #ClimateStrike, #FamiliesBelongTogether, #EvasionMasiva (Chile), #FightForHongKong, #RickyRenuncia (Puerto Rico) and #CancelRent movements and the pro-Trump #liberate resistance, contrasting them with social media and other historic movements. "Evergreen" topics such as immigration, climate change and net neutrality are explored in depth, along with media reforms and concrete policy solutions. The book straddles disciplines including media, policy and journalism studies, political economy and international and political communication. It is a must-read for scholars, students, policy advisers, media makers, social media enthusiasts, grassroots activists, NGOs and concerned citizens alike.

Table of Contents:
List of figures List of images List of tables Foreword: The Mass Media, Social Movements, the Trump Era, and the Crisis of Democracy by Daniel Chomsky and Noam Chomsky Preface: The Media Dependence Model Offers a Critique and Policy Solutions Steeped in Political Economy That Will Endure by Robert W. McChesney Author’s Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Surveying and Contextualizing the Book in the Age of Social Media and the Pandemic Chapter 1 The News Media Landscape of the Age of Social Media and Related Lessons in Media Literacy Chapter 2 The Media Dependence Model in the Age of Social Media: A Political Economic and Critical Media Analysis of the Mainstream Global News Media System Chapter 3 Caged Children and Trump’s “Nuclear Option”: An MDM Case Study on New York Times Coverage and How Online-Based Resistance Ended Trump’s Ill-Fated Family Separation Policy Chapter 4 2019’s Banner Year of Worldwide Political Resistance: An MDM Multi-Case Study of New York Times Coverage of Leading “Worthy” and “Unworthy” Social Movements Chapter 5 Are Individual Consumers the Main Culprits for Climate Change? An MDM Case Study on the Climate Strike Movement, Greenwashing and Mainstream versus Nonprofit News Media Coverage Chapter 6 The MDM in the Pandemic Era: The New York Times, Fox News and a Composite of News Coverage of the #CancelRent Movement and #Liberate Resistance Chapter 7 A Reality Television Star Won the Electoral College: How Mainstream News Media Played a Vital Role in the Electoral College Victory of the Made-for-TV Candidate, Donald Trump Chapter 8 A Public Policy Analysis of Net Neutrality Protections and Their Intimate Link with the Future of Independent and Professional Journalism Chapter 9 Applying the MDM to the #OccupyWallStreet and #YoSoy132 Movements for Mainstream Coverage During the Dawn of the Age of Social Media Chapter 10 Comparing Today’s Era of Social Media with the Early Beginnings of the Digital Age: Double Standards? An MDM Case Study on Immigration Coverage for the case of Elian Gonzalez and Nine Potentially “Unworthy” Unaccompanied Children Chapter 11 [Online-Only Chapter] Comparing Today’s Era of Social Media with the Early Beginnings of the Digital Age: Evaluating the MDM and the News Media Performance of the New York Times on the “Free Vieques” Movement of Puerto Rico Chapter 12 [Online-Only Chapter] Comparing Today’s Era of Social Media with the Early Beginnings of the Digital Age: Applying the MDM to an Indigenous-Led Uprising: Was the Turn-of-the-Century Mass Movement in Ecuador “Unworthy” in Mainstream U.S. News Coverage Conclusion: Surveying Leading Arguments of the MDM, Related Public Policy Solutions and Needed News Media Reforms Afterword: The Biden Administration, Mainstream Media, the MDM and Mass Resistance Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Dr. Andrew Kennis is an invited scholar affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, where he serves as a coordinating member of a research collective based at the College of Political and Social Sciences (FCPyS). Dr. Kennis is also a nationally inducted researcher in a program (SNI) run under the auspices of Mexico’s National Council on Science and Technology (CONACyT). As a pedagogue, he currently teaches graduate-level classes at Rutgers University after having also taught at UNAM, Northwestern University, the University of Texas at El Paso and many other universities from both sides of the border. Dr. Kennis also continues to practice as an international and investigative journalist, having reported from locations ranging across four continents and dozens of countries while residing in Mexico City.

Review :
Dr. Kennis’ academic pedigree is impressive, as is the fact that he’s chosen to conduct a significant portion of his work in academic contexts outside the United States. This, coupled with his extensive journalistic work in a variety of countries from a critical perspective, may help to make the work more engaging to an international audience. Dr. Kennis writes in an accessible way (his background as a journalist helps here), and, with a case study approach that grounds concepts in a thick description of examples, this assures that undergrads may find his work approachable. Graduate students and scholars interested in journalism, digital media, international comm, and social movements would be drawn by the subject matter.