A Content Analysis of Organizational Dissent as Portrayed on Primetime

Introduction There has been much research done on organizational dissent, but there is a dearth of research dedicated to how television shows portray dissent over the airwaves. In Deviating From the Script: A Content Analysis of Organizational Dissent as Portrayed on Primetime Television by Johny T. Garner, Emily S. Kinsky, Andrei C. Duta, and Julia Danker, the authors attempted to combine these two theories for their study. Using the data collected by the authors and their research team, the authors resolved to measure how effective the dissent was in creating change. Organizational dissent is important in nonfictional workplaces for a variety of reasons, and these results indicate one potential influence on organizational members that may depict dissent as futile (Garner et al., 2012, p. 620). The authors set about trying to quantify organizational dissent on network television in the primetime hours. The authors also argued that organizational dissent was the challenge of status quo and the be nefits of this challenge was of value to both the dissenter and the organization as well. This review will provide a critical analysis of the article as well offer some insights into where the authors’ research could go further. Hypotheses and Philosophical Perspectives Garner et al. provided three hypotheses for their content analysis of primetime programming. First, the authors hypothesized that dissent would be portrayed as ineffective. In this hypothesis, effectiveness was defined in terms of receiving emotional support and/or achieving instrumental change. The second hypothesis was centered on to whom the dissent would be expressed. The authors used four potential dissent audiences: supervisors, subordinates, coworkers and people ... .... doi: 10.1080/01463373.2012.725001 Gerbner, G. (1990). Epilogue: Advancing on the path of righteousness (maybe). In N. Signorielli & M. Morgan (Eds.), Cultivation analysis: New directions in media effects research (pp. 249–262). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Morgan, M. (2000). On George Gerbner’s contributions to communication theory, research, and social action. In M. Morgan (Ed.), Against the mainstream: The selected works of George Gerbner (pp. 1–20). New York: Peter Lang. Shapiro,M., & Lang, A. (1991).Making television reality: Unconscious processes in the construction of social reality. Communication Research, 18, 685–705. doi: 10.1177=009365091018005007 Shrum, L. J. (1997). The role of source confusion in cultivation effects may depend on processing strategy: A comment on Mares. Human Communication Research, 24, 349–358. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1997.tb00418.x