Insert quote here: selective modulation in protest coverage

Why do some social movements get favorable media attention while others find their messages marginalized or distorted? While extensive research examines factors shaping protest coverage, researchers have overlooked a crucial mechanism: the selection and framing of direct quotes from movement actors. We argue that quotes function as key sites of selective modulation, a process through which journalistic practices systematically amplify or diminish the voices of movement participants based on specific protest characteristics. We develop and test this framework, identifying protest size, tactical choices, organizational capacity, and issue focus as key modulators. Using a mixed-methods approach, we first apply computational analysis to over 12,000 news reports (2022–2024), revealing that these modulators systematically predict the presence, frequency, and substantive content (grievance, demand, participation) of protester and target quotes. Second, a conjoint survey experiment (N = 496) demonstrates that quote inclusion in media coverage enhances perceived protest effectiveness, with issue-focused quotes (articulating demands or grievances) proving more impactful than participation-focused statements. By identifying quotes as a specific textual mechanism through which journalists negotiate media representation and offering the selective modulation framework, we extend theories of movement-media interaction and clarify how movements gain or lose legitimacy in media coverage.