Media and January 6th

Abstract This edited volume brings together a diverse group of leading scholars in communication, media studies, political science, sociology, and related fields to analyze the relationship between media and the events of January 6, 2021. The authors in this volume argue that the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol was a politically significant event that laid bare both America’s tortured democratic history and the constellation of threats to its future as a multiracial democracy. These scholars also argue for the important role of media, not only news media but platforms and social media, in creating the conditions that led to January 6th. This is especially important given that U.S. governmental reports have often failed to substantially take up the role of media in the political violence at the U.S. Capitol. The volume is organized around three key questions: How should we understand January 6, 2021? What should research look like after January 6, 2021? How can we prevent another January 6, 2021? It concludes with an assessment of where we should go from here if we share a commitment to democracy in the United States. The scholarship collected here helps researchers, policymakers, journalists, and members of the public understand what happened on January 6th and the relationship of media to it, in addition to laying out ideas for preventing another attempted coup and bolstering multiracial democracy.