Resist much, obey little: A look into the media coverage of the 2019 Indian CAA/ NRC and the 2023 French Pension Reform protests

The aim of this thesis was to discover how mainstream media covered the major 2019 Indian CAA/NRC and the 2023 French Pension reform protests and its leaders. Witnessing the rise of the universal form of dissent known as the act of protesting over the last decade combined with the decrease in media freedom motivated this study. The Black Lives Matter movement for instance was a major global mass movement, heavily covered in the media and bringing up quetsions of racial injustice and police brutality. The recent farmers protests across Europe showcased that farmers were a force to be reckoned with. Protests are heavily goal-oriented and demand respect more than anything. A major way in which the protests gain the attention and can work towards their goal is through media attention. However, this attention comes at a cost depending on how protests are portrayed and perceived in the media. In light of this, this study involves the examining of protests and protest leaders, especially those that are anti- government, and how they are covered by the media. In an attempt to do this, the two case studies from India and France were chosen and taken a close look at. Qualitative Research analysis was taken up as the general research approach along with qualitative content analysis employed for the analysis of data. As mentioned before, the two case studies were taken from France and India. In terms of the data collection and sampling; 30 newspaper articles from the French news media outlets Le Monde and France 24 and 30 newspaper articles from the Indian news media outlets Times of India and NDTV were utilised. Within Qualitative Content Analysis, data was analysed through Frame Analysis. A Hybrid approach involving both Deductive and Inductive Approach was undertaken. Through this approach, two frames based on literature namely “Spectacle” and “Debate” were coded for the emergence of sub-themes with these two as a base. Alongside this approach, the data was also inductively coded for the emergence of two new frames names “Resolute” and “Conspirators” along with their sub-themes. Evidence pointed towards media coverage deeply rooted in the portrayal of the most dramatic elements of a protest along with also evolving to include public grievances and the significance of leaders. This study helped reinforce not just the importance of resisting to unjust governmental practices in a democracy but the role media plays in this too.