Why Did Hoye Receive Media Attention?
The cause he advocated had a following–a body of committed supporters. Groups on campus had endorsed the boycott. The campus senate, a representative body, had endorsed the boycott. The proposed boycott had met opposition. The board of regents had voted it down; the president opposed it. This opposition gave the story conflict, and with the conflict came a recognizable Omega Replica cast of characters. The president would speak for those who opposed the boycott. By staging a dramatic hunger strike, Hoye invited the media to see the conflict as ongoing and to pit him against the regents and the president.
Because Hoye had headed the coalition, he was a credible spokesperson for those on campus advocating boycott.
Because Hoye was an international relations major, his interest in world hunger seemed consistent with his reason for being a student.
Because Hoye had seen mothers feeding their infants contaminated formula in Guatemala and Honduras in 1978, his concern about the issue could be grounded in his personal experience.
Because the hunger strike could be tied to the argument that the infant formula contributed to malnutrition and disease, the dramatic act could not be casually dismissed as a gimmick.
Because Hoye suffered the effects of the fast–nausea, vomiting, light-headedness–and because his doctor warned that he risked permanent damage to his health, the media could not report the story one time and then abandon it. Once covered, the story demanded a follow-up. Would he starve to death? Would his health be damaged? Would he give up? The nature of Hoye’s protest involved reporters in a dramatic narrative. One story demanded another and another until the full drama was played out and Hoye either got what he wanted or abandoned the strike.
Hoye apparently had nothing to gain from the strike personally. He would not benefit personally if Nestle products were boycotted. This was not a way to be elected to an office, for ex-ample. Thus, his action appeared disinterested and selfless. The tent, the sign, the physical evidence of weight loss, the sign’s daily report of weight dramatized and made concrete an issue that was otherwise abstract. By making it concrete, Hoye made the issue attractive to and us-able by the mass media.
Hoye’s hunger strike, rather than the reason for the strike, might have become the focus of media coverage. Since Hoye no longer headed the coalition, he might not have been seen as a representative of or a spokesperson for the boycott. The significance of Hoye’s act would be reduced if he was not Omega Seamaster Replica Watches perceived to represent those favoring the boycott.
Perhaps the relation between the tent and the hunger strike or between the hunger strike and the boycott would not have been recognized clearly.
Hoye’s action was part of a national effort led by Boston-based IMPACT (Infant Formula Action Coalition). IMPACT instigated a 7-year boycott of Nestle products, which eventually prompted the large company to limit its marketing of possibly damaging infant formula in less-developed countries.
This case study illustrates one student’s use of the principles governing what makes news. The next section of this chapter examines other factors that influence what will be covered.
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