Covering Counterculture: A Comparative Analysis of the Employment of Protest Paradigm Strategies By Mainstream and Alternative Twin Cities Newspapers During the Morrill Hall Takeover (1969)

Abstract

This study examines how protest paradigm strategies were used in the coverage of the Morrill Hall Takeover (1969) by three mainstream and one alternative Twin Cities print newspapers. By analyzing the content of the newspaper’s coverage directly related to the protest in the months following the initial protest, this research explores protest paradigm theory within this context as well as the potential correlation between the employment of these strategies and the type of news publication– mainstream or alternative. The findings from the study indicate that all examined news publications used protest paradigm strategies in their coverage of the Morrill Hall Takeover (1969), to some degree. Furthermore, it was found that a correlation between the employment of these strategies and the type of news publication was dependent on the specific type of strategy being analyzed. These findings contribute to the understanding of the protest paradigm theory as it relates to historical protest movements in addition to understanding how coverage of protest may influence the collective memory of these events.This study adds to existing literature by evaluating the protest paradigm theory with regard to a historical protest event which allows the theory to be better contextualized within the broader history of journalistic coverage of protests.