This study examines the case of a recent news ‘icon’, a celebrated product of photojournalism, Dylan Martinez’s so-called ‘death in Genoa’. The picture shows a scene moments before the death by police gunfire of a protester during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Genoa in July 2001. The image was chosen by news and political elites as a metonym for the antiglobalization movement. Fitting into the typical characteristics and assumptions of the news icon, it served less to show what happened than to direct public gaze and interpretations to framed ‘meanings’ that, in this instance, marginalized a strike against authority by establishing ‘protestor violence’ as the news lead. The study highlights news photography’s interpretive role of historical events and their context and complexity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berkowitz, L. and Rogers, K. (1986) ‘A Priming Effect Analysis of Media Influences’, in J. Bryant and D. Zillman (eds) Perspectives on Media Effects, pp. 57–81. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
DeLuca, K. (1999) ‘Unruly Arguments: The Body Rhetoric of Earth First!, Act Up, and Queer Nation’ , Argumentation and Advocacy36(1): 9–21 .
4.
Dickey, C. and Nordland, R. (2001) ‘First Blood’, Newsweek, 30 July: 23–23.
5.
Domke, D., Perlmutter, D. and Spratt, M. (2003) ‘The Primes of Our Times? An Examination of the “Power” of Visual Images’ , Journalism3(2): 131–159 .
6.
Domke, D., Shah, D.V. and Wackman, D. (1998) ‘Media Priming Effects: Accessibility, Association, and Activation’ , International Journal of Public Opinion Research1: 51–74 .
7.
Dow, B. (1999) ‘Spectacle, Spectatorship, and Gender Anxiety in Television Coverage of the 1970 Women’s Strike for Equality’ , Communication Studies50(2): 143–157 .
8.
Elliott, M. (2001) ‘Death in Genoa’, Time, 30 July: 22–23.
9.
Ewen, S. (1988) All Consuming Images: The Politics of Style in Contemporary Culture. New York: Basic Books .
10.
Fiske, J. (1987) Television Culture. New York: Routledge .
11.
Fiske, S. and Linville, P. (1980) ‘What Does the Concept Schema Buy Us?’ , Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin6: 543–557 .
12.
Fleischhauer, J., Hogrefe, J., Röbel, S., Schäfer, U., Schiessl, M., Schlamp, H.J. and Steingart, G. (2001) ‘Widerspruch!’, Der Spiegel, 23 July: 20–32.
13.
Gerstenzang, J. (2001) ‘Summit Opens Amid Deadly Street Protests’, Los Angeles Times, 21 July: A1–A1.
14.
Gitlin, T. (1981) The Whole World Is Watching: Mass Media in the Making and Unmaking of the New Left. Berkeley: University of California Press .
15.
Graber, D. (1988) Processing the News: How People Tame the Information Tide. New York: Longman .
16.
Gustainis, J. and Hahn, D.F. (1988) ‘While the Whole World Watched: Rhetorical Failures of Anti-war Protest’ , Communication Quarterly36: 203–216 .
Kernell, S. (1978) ‘Explaining Presidential Popularity’ , American Political Science Review72: 506–522 .
19.
Kim, S. (2000) ‘Making a Difference: U.S. Press Coverage of the Kwangju and Tiananmen Pro-Democracy Movements’ , Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly77(1): 22–36 .
20.
Klein, N. (1999) No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York: Picador U.S.A .
21.
Kowal, D. (2000) ‘One Cause, Two Paths: Militant vs. Adjustive Strategies in the British and American Women’s Suffrage Movements’ , Communication Quarterly48(3): 240–255 .
22.
Lake, R. (1983) ‘Enacting Red Power: The Consummatory Function in Native American Protest Rhetoric’ , Quarterly Journal of Speech69(2): 127–142 .
23.
Larson, J.F. and Chen, J. (1992) ‘Television and Foreign Policy: US Response to the Beijing and Kwangju Pro-Democracy Movements’ , Asian Journal of Communication2(2): 78–104 .
24.
Low, D. (1996) ‘The Greenie Genre: Noble Saviours or Planetary Fools’ , Australian Journal of Communication23(2): 101–109 .
25.
McLeod, D. (1995) ‘Communicating Deviance: The Effects of Television News Coverage of Social Protest’ , Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media39: 4–19 .
26.
McLeod, D. and Detenber, B. (1999) ‘Framing Effects of Television News Coverage of Social Protest’ , Journal of Communication49(3): 3–23 .
27.
Milstein, J. (1974) Dynamics of the Vietnam War: A Quantitative Analysis and Predictive Computer Simulation. Columbus: Ohio State University Press .
28.
Mueller, J. (1971) ‘Trends in Popular Support for the Wars in Korea and Vietnam’ , American Political Science Review65: 358–375 .
29.
Mueller, J. (1973) War, Presidents, and Public Opinion. New York: Wiley .
Perlmutter, D. (1992) ‘The Vision of War in High School Social Science Textbooks’ , Communication13: 143–160 .
32.
Perlmutter, D. (1997) ‘A Picture’s Worth 8,500,000 People: News Images as Symbols of China’ , Visual Communications Quarterly4(2): 1–1, 4–7 .
33.
Perlmutter, D. (1998) Photojournalism and Foreign Policy: Icons of Outrage in International Crises. Westport: Praeger .
34.
Permutter, D. (2003) ‘Icons of Photojournalism and the Internet’, in L. Gross, J.S. Katz and J. Ruby (eds) Image Ethics in the Digital Age. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press .
35.
Ratnesar, R. (2001) ‘Chaos Incorporated: Time Tracks the Groups Getting Ready to Rumble When Bush and Other Leaders Meet in Genoa’, Time, 23 July: 33–36.
36.
Robinson, J. (1970) ‘Public Reaction to Political Protest: Chicago 1968’ , Public Opinion Quarterly34: 1–9 .
37.
Sanger, D. (2001) ‘Rich Nations Offer a Hand, but the Poor Hope for More’, New York Times, 21 July: A7–A7.
38.
Sanger, D. and Stanley, A. (2001) ‘Italian Protester Is Killed by Police at Genoa Meeting’, New York Times, 21 July: A7–A7.
39.
Sanger, K. (1997) ‘Functions of Freedom Singing in the Civil Rights Movement: The Activists’ Implicitly Rhetorical Theory’ , Howard Journal of Communications8(2): 179–195 .
40.
Schlamp, H-J. and Röbel, S. (2001) ‘ “Mörder, Mörder” Der tote Demonstrant von Genua schockt die Welt.?’, Der Spiegel, 23 July: 22.
41.
Selby, G. (2001) ‘Framing Social Protest: The Exodus Narrative in Martin Luther King’s Montgomery Bus Boycott Rhetoric’ , Journal of Communication and Religion24: 68–93 .
42.
Shoemaker, P. (1984) ‘Media Treatment of Deviant Political Groups’ , Journalism Quarterly61: 66–75 .
43.
Simonson, P. (2001) ‘Social Noise and Segmented Rhythms: News, Entertainment, and Celebrity in the Crusade for Rights’ , Communication Review4(3): 399–420 .
44.
Stamou, A. (2001) ‘The Representation of Non-protesters in a Student and Teacher Protest: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reporting in a Greek Newspaper’ , Discourse & Society12: 653–680 .
45.
Stewart, Charles J. (1999) ‘Championing the Rights of Others and Challenging Evil: The Ego Function in the Rhetoric of Other-Directed Social Movements’ , Southern Communication Journal64(2): 91–105 .
Watkins, S. (2001) ‘Framing Protest: News Media Frames of the Million Man March’ , Critical Studies in Media Communication18(1): 83–101 .
52.
Wittebols, J. (1996) ‘News from the Noninstitutional World: U.S. and Canadian Television News Coverage of Social Protest’ , Political Communication13: 345–361 .
53.
Worth, S. (1981) Studying Visual Communication,ed. L. Gross. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press .
