Media portrayals amplify activist passion while muffling their reasoning

Evidence

According to this line of thinking, passionate protesters are, by definition, not rational. At the same time, passion is considered more ”real,” more involved. Officials and reporters assumed that readers will assume that ”raw” emotions are more authentic; that feelings are more real than thoughts. And reporters, as I will discuss later, thought this way themselves, as well as assuming that their readers did. Working within this common-sense framework, it is hard to imagine how passion sometimes enhances rationality, as Neil’s impassioned after-hours hunt for the scientific basis of legal exposure to toxic chemicals did. Though there are no doubt many irrational activists in the world, news stories amplify all activists’ irrationality, and muffle their reasoning, when portraying the activists to the world. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1418

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Eliasoph’s broader theme and to the reader’s interest in how ‘speaking for themselves’ from personal experience becomes a lopsided model of citizenship. — connects to: Treating talk as self-display makes audiences dismiss activists as attention-seekers — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1034; Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes.; Anxiety activates citizens’ political consciousness while enthusiasm engages their hearts — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1745 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Anxiety activates citizens’ political consciousness while enthusiasm engages their hearts #exemplifies (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1745
• Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes. #expands (0.80)