Quebec Tuition Protests (with a focus on Montreal)
Treatment of tuition protests by social and mainstream media have both been extensive without seeming to converge.
- Students in Quebec have been on strike since March 22, gaining a media frenzy of coverage. Not surprisingly, it was in the realm of social media that citizens offered their opinions about the commotion, especially that happening in Montreal. Some fervently support the initiative, while others decry the sense of entitlement students are showing, pointing out that, even with the increases, Quebec students would still be paying among the lowest tuitions in the country.
- Of course, the overwhelming majority of social media users played their part in disseminating mainstream media's coverage of the event by linking to news stories. A couple even playfully criticized the choice of headline used by the CBC which claimed that "Student marches snake through montreal."
- Many were disgruntled by what they called the "entitlement" of Quebec students. Indeed, the majority of those giving opinions at the time of research were in the "con" camp.
@CBCNews students in Montreal need to talk to students in Ontario so then they know exactly what high tuition is #frustrated
@QuebecUniversityStudents do everyone a favour and SHUT UP, we pay double what you do #quityourwhining #$6,391.00 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/03/29/montreal-student-protest-tuition.html?cmp=rss- However, there were still many who supported the protesters.
- The most interesting thing in all of this was the mainstream media's treatment of the story. The overwhelming majority seemed to ignore the wealth of information that could be scooped up from social media. I think it is obvious by now that I am cautious to say the least when it comes to putting too much emphasis on Twitter and the like. While providing many opinions, it's no secret I think this type of conversation has more breadth than depth. But, even to me, this seems perfectly suited for a 500-word story on an event.Yet, very little attention has been paid to the diverse opinions offered. Global Montreal was the only one I came across that used social media extensively. Indeed, it used a Storify platform to aggregate Montreal's reaction to the student protests.
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Global Montreal | Now trending: Montreal reaction to student protestsMar 22, 2012 ... A massive student protest against the Quebec government's proposed tuition hikes is taking place in Montreal today...- The rest of the major news sources presented the event in an almost old-fashioned way. They talked to representatives from both sides and that was the extent of it. Barely any attention seems to have been paid to the social media conversation, which, after all, was flooded with links to the mainstream news stories. This incident really drives home the differences in perception by an academic and maybe even citizen community and a journalistic one about the use of social media. While everyone and their dog seems to be championing its use, including news outlets (as evidenced by our trip to the Ottawa Citizen), it is clear that more time is needed for the social to really enter the mainstream use by journalistic organizations. Even in cases such as this one, where it could have yielded heaps of information about the event taking place and opinions surrounding it.
