Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

College of Creative Arts

Department

Reed College of Media

Committee Chair

Julia Fraustino

Committee Member

Geah Pressgrove

Committee Member

Austin McCoy

Abstract

This study investigates how national and local U.S. news outlets framed George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protesters, and the surrounding protests in the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death. Through a qualitative content analysis of YouTube news broadcasts posted between May and June 2020, coupled with thematic analysis of popular comments that viewers posted in response, this research explores media narratives and public understanding of a pivotal moment of an ongoing racial justice movement. Drawing on framing theory and construal level theory, the study identifies a range of frames (i.e., pro-accountability, anti-accountability, raw perspective, neutral, episodic, riot) used by both local and national news.

Findings reveal that framing choices had the dual effect of amplifying calls for justice while also reinforcing common media reporting patterns that may obscure or distort the full complexity of events. Importantly, analysis of YouTube comments demonstrates that audiences are not passive recipients of themes frames: commenters frequently echoed calls for justice and solidarity but also actively challenged, corrected, or reframed media narratives especially when coverage relied on ambiguous or delegitimizing frames. In many cases, commenters used the platform to demand greater accountability, highlight systemic injustice, and reclaim marginalized perspectives, thereby shaping the discourse in real time.

Ultimately, this study underscores the media’s power in shaping public discourse around race and protest, while also highlighting the interactive and contested nature of meaning-making in digital spaces. Results call for more critical engagement with journalistic narratives during times of social upheaval and demonstrate the importance of audience agency in negotiating and contesting media frames, as clearly reflected in the dynamic, corrective, and often justice-oriented responses found in the YouTube comment sections.

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