ABSTRACT
Protest events are often studied in isolation. This chapter is different: its theoretical component suggests a way of thinking about protest reporting in global settings by connecting the (nation-based) notion of the protest paradigm with the (international-relations-oriented) notion of strategic narratives. Its empirical component comprises three case studies. The first compares coverage of the Euromaiden demonstrations in the Ukraine in January to March 2014 in Al Jazeera English (AJE), BBC World (BBCW) and RT. The second compares the story of unrest in Ferguson in August 2014 as told by AJE, CNN International and RT. The third compares coverage of the 2014 ‘Umbrella Protests’ in Hong Kong in AJE, BBCW and China’s CCTV News. The results suggest that the way dissent is narrated by global broadcasters may have less to do with the characteristics of the protests than the geo-political position and system of media and politics in which the broadcaster is moored.
