These are the slides for my National Communication Association Presentation on microblogging and protests.

1. Protesters use microblogging tools to make
their voices heard in new ways
-Lindsay Ems – Indiana University

2. Iran 2009 Moldova 2009
G-20 Summit Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2009
Three Cases

3. • Method
– Qualitative data
• Traditional news media stories
• Commentary from journalists, academic and quasi-
academic observers and bloggers
• Theory
– Framing – Gitlin 1980
• Media coverage of events shapes our interpretation of
events.
• Shows protests as “illegitimate sideshows”
Method & Theory

4. Twitter: a protest tool

5. • 62.63
62.63 % to 33.75%
Iranian Protests June 13-16, 2009

7. Moldovan Protests April 5-7, 2009

8. G-20 Protests September 22-25, 2009

9. Elliot Madison – Arrested for tweeting the location of police

10. • Twitter use by protesters was seen as a threat
by governments in all three cases though it’s
actual impact varies in quality and effect.
• Protester-generated content may complicate
framing theory as it is applied to traditional
news coverage of protests.
– Future research and theorizing is needed.
Conclusion/Discussion