Movimientos sociales y medios de comunicación: hacia una operacionalización del concepto de identidad pública

Since Seattle, the media attention to the movement against economic globalisation and, more broadly, to the other (new) social movements, has been bound to the issue of violence. The greater media attention has promoted their consolidation and it has also increased the political costs of the physical repression of non-violent action, leading to the gradual modification of the authorities response. In all of these processes, images reaching public opinion become a key concern, provoking a real battle for shaping their format and content. This paper inquires into the nature of this process through the empirical evidence of the news coverage of the main Spanish newspaper, El País, to two of the most current movements: the so-calles anti-globalisation movement (MAG) and the squatters' movement (MOK)