Journalism, Politics, and the Dakota Access Pipeline Standing Rock and the Framing of Injustice Routledge Studies in Environmental Communication and Media Series

This book explores tensions surrounding news media coverage of Indigenous environmental justice issues, identifying them as a fruitful lens through which to examine the political economy of journalism, American history, human rights, and contemporary U.S. politics.

The book begins by evaluating contemporary American journalism through the lens of "deep media", focusing especially on the relationship between the drive for profit, professional journalism, and coverage of environmental justice issues. It then presents the results of a framing analysis of the Standing Rock movement (#NODAPL) coverage by news outlets in the USA and Canada. These findings are complemented by interviews with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose members provided their perspectives on the media and the pipeline. The discussion expands by considering the findings in light of current U.S. politics, including a Trump presidency that employs "law and order" rhetoric regarding people of color and that often subjects environmental issues to an economic "cost-benefit" analysis. The book concludes by considering the role of social media in the era of "Big Oil" and growing Indigenous resistance and power.

Examining the complex interplay between social media, traditional journalism, and environmental justice issues, Journalism, Politics, and the Dakota Access Pipeline: Standing Rock and the Framing of Injustice will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental communication, critical political economy, and journalism studies more broadly.

Acknowledgements

Preface: Background and Language

1. Introduction: Media Coverage of Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline
2. The Dakota Access Pipeline, the Oilygarchy, and the Media: A Study in Power
3. A Case of Un-Coverage? Deep Media, Indigenous Representation, and Environmental Issues
4. Framing Injustice: U.S Media Coverage of the Standing Rock Movement
5. "Could It Happen Here?" Canadian Newspaper Framing of the Dakota Access Pipeline
6. Law and Order: from Civil Rights to Nixon to Trump, a Trope in Revival
7. Indigenous Perspectives on the Dakota Access Pipeline, Politics, and the Media: the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Journalists Speak
8. Did Technology Kill the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg or Save It? New Media, Old Media, and the #NODAPL Movement

Appendix A: Standing Rock Interview Questions: "Journalism and the Dakota Access Pipeline" Project

Appendix B: Interview Questions for Mark Trahant "Journalism and the Dakota Access Pipeline" Project

Index

Ellen Moore is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Washington Tacoma, USA.