Media, Participation, and Public Opinion toward the Movement
This chapter discusses the role of the media in the formation and mobilization of the protest campaign under the concept of the partially censored public monitor. Embedded in the dominant political economic structure, the mainstream media were on the whole negative toward the Umbrella Movement. However, (self)-censorship was only partial, and the media system continued to play the role of the public monitor. The media played an important role in generating mediated instant grievances among the public when the police fired tear gas into the protesting crowd at the beginning of the occupation. They also helped monitor police violence throughout the protest campaign. Digital media strengthened the public monitor function of the media system as a whole by facilitating wider flows of media materials. As a result, the impact of the media on public opinion toward the Umbrella Movement was mixed and contradictory.