Marriage equality headlines living room debates, office cooler conversations and court room deliberations, but not your daily newspaper. Based on a recent study from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, the topic of equal marriage rights has dominated the blogsphere following the Vermont and Washington D.C. Equal Marriage Rights votes. Despite a substantial amount of blog and social media links on the topic, traditional media has chosen to minimize coverage. The study claims 26 percent of links from April 6-10 focused on the topic of marriage equality compared to only 1 percent of traditional newspaper coverage.
What I find most interesting is the root of conversation about marriage equality. The online community chose to focus on two subjects during that designated time period — marriage equality and the death of a man on the G20 Summit. However, traditional media discussed more global issues, such as the economic crisis and the hostage situation with the Pirates of Somalia. Prior to the advent of online outlets, the public’s primary form of news and current events was traditional media. Today, people around the globe are instantly engaged in dialogue — not only debating issues but connecting on personal and emotional levels.
The question can be raised – is marriage equality not a top priority for traditional media? If so, can social media, generated through every day people, cultivate an environment for public action on political challenges? What do you think?
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I think social media definitely has the opportunity to provoke change and stimulate a large audience to insist on equal rights. As social media becomes more organized and interconnected traditional media will have no choice but to join in on the conversation.
Thanks Ashley for your comment. I agree. The power of social media has given individuals the ability to connect and form a digital coalition to enact change – socially and politically. Online media is about having a voice and sharing in this dialogue. Love it!