Visual Proof: Identifying a Pattern in Photographic Coverage of a Social Movement

This study compared the photographic news coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests from two competing New York City tabloid newspapers on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the New York Post (conservative) and the Daily News (liberal). The purpose of the study was to determine if there were any differences in the photographic coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests between the two media outlets. A content analysis was conducted to detect and confirm any statistically significant differences in photographic coverage. Results showed that the differences in photographic coverage were significantly different suggesting that each media outlet may have presented the photographs to express a specific opinion of the protests. The study also determined that social proof is a useful theory for detecting a pattern of selection in photographic coverage of a social movement.