Media Bias, Perspective, and State Repression: The Black Panther Party

This book examines information reported within the media regarding the interaction between the Black Panther Party and government agents in the Bay Area of California (1967-1973). Christian Davenport argues that the geographic locale and political orientation of the newspaper influences how specific details are reported, including who starts and ends the conflict, who the Black Panthers target (government or non-government actors), and which part of the government responds (the police or court). Specifically, proximate and government-oriented sources provide one assessment of events, whereas proximate and dissident-oriented sources have another; both converge on specific aspects of the conflict. The methodological implications of the study are clear; Davenport's findings prove that in order to understand contentious events, it is crucial to understand who collects or distributes the information in order to comprehend who reportedly does what to whom as well as why.

Author: Christian Davenport
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 11/23/2009
Pages: 262
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780521759700


Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2011

About the Author
Davenport, Christian: - Christian Davenport is a Professor of Peace Studies & Political Science in the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame as well as Director of the Radical Information Project (RIP) and Stop Our States (SOS). He is the author of State Repression and the Promise of Democratic Peace (Cambridge, 2007) and the editor of Repression and Mobilization (with Carol Mueller and Hank Johnston, 2004), and Paths to State Repression: Human Rights Violations and Contentious Politics (2000). His articles have appeared in journals including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Political Research Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, and the Monthly Review .