Media dismissal of protesters as self-interested reflects media’s own assumptions, not protesters’ motives

Evidence

The inability to comprehend the idea that people can have motivations other than self-interest reveals far more about the Burleyesque sections of the media than it does about the marchers. The archetype of the spoiled, selfish student living it up on taxpayer money, never particularly fair, is now positively antiquated. Viz — often a reliable social barometer — dropped its “Student Grant” character years ago, but it’s being dug up and spat back at us in 2010. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1516

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the broader literature on how ‘self-interest’ assumptions characterize protest movements; connects to criticisms of the apolitical-economics framing elsewhere in this corpus. — connects to: Media containment frames protests as both trivial and gravely disorderly — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1511; Media could not comprehend altruistic motivations among student protesters — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1516; The protestors deliberately staged a media event for television coverage — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York…, 299 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Media could not comprehend altruistic motivations among student protesters #corroborates (0.92) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1516
• Skepticism about activists’ motives can invalidate truthful antiracist claims #expands (0.88)
• The protestors deliberately staged a media event for television coverage #contradicts (0.85) — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 299