| dc.description.abstract | Drawing on media framing theory and Bonilla’s Silva’s theory of color-blind racism this thesis analyzes the coverage of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party in two local Chicago newspapers between 1968 and 1970. Data for this study draws from a content analysis of 144 newspaper articles between October 1, 1968 and June 30, 1970 in the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Daily Defender prior to and following the assassination of the chapter’s leader, Fred Hampton, in December of 1969. Negative media frames prevailed in the Chicago Tribune, but declined after Hampton’s death due to pressure from activists and the public, demonstrating the power of significant events to transform media frames. Still, the Tribune consistently relied on pejorative themes of criminality and communist ideology to portray the Illinois chapter, perpetuating color-blind media frames of abstract liberalism, cultural racism, and minimization of racism. In contrast, the Defender consistently framed the Party positively both prior to and after the death of Fred Hampton. Through their attention to the chapter’s community programs and resistance against police brutality and state repression, the Defender disseminates oppositional narratives that directly counter those proffered by the Tribune and align with the Illinois chapter’s expression of their goals. This study’s novel integration of media framing theory and Bonilla’s Silva’s theory of color-blind racism provides a useful framework to address how structural racism constrains and shapes the media framing of black movements and activists in U.S. society over time. | |
