NEWS ICONS AND THE MAINSTREAMING OF SOCIAL-CHANGE

Two theoretic paradigms have traditionally guided understandings of th e news. The liberal-pluralist paradigm posits the mass media as a vita l conduit of accountability and bottom-up change, whereas the critical paradigm views the news as a crucial site and mechanism of ideologica l domination. This analysis furthers an evolving ecological approach, which bridges the two dominant paradigms, contending that the same mar ket imperatives and journalistic routines which so often produce news that reinforces the status quo can at times produce news which challen ges it. Analysis of news about the environment and waste recycling fro m 1980-1990 reveals a dramatic shaft in coverage patterns following th e ill-fated voyage of the Mobro, the garbage barge that sailed the bgh seas for three months in an unsuccessful search for a port that would accept its cargo. The barge became what we call a news icon: art imag e that lived on beyond its originating event by being introduced into a variety of subsequent news contexts. The icon provided an occasion f or both journalists and their sources to refigure cultural scripts abo ut garbage and recycling. In this process news routines and source com munication strategies interacted to produce news as cultural forum, cr eating opportunities for cultural transformation.