Whether they helped bring down their club’s manager, marched against their football club’s owners or pushed back against plans to commercialize their sport, fans have a long history of using their passion as a tool for social change. While many scholars have argued that young people are unlikely to become civically engaged, fan activism challenges these assertions by enabling points of entry into civic life through the infrastructure of existing fan practices and relationships (Henry Jenkins).
When something they love is threatened, fans often respond with protest. For example, when Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his wildly popular Sherlock Holmes character in 1893, fans protested; eventually the author relented and Holmes was resurrected. Fan protests often involve emotional issues, as fans feel their connection to a show or character is being threatened, or that a decision made by the show or character’s producers is unfair.
Fan activists also use fandom to explore their own identities. For instance, Tom Phillips examines the attempt by fans of Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) to pressure Southwest Airlines after the airline deemed him “too fat to fly.” In his article, he finds that the personality of celebrities, and the themes of their work, may shape which issues fan activists embrace.
When reporting on a protest, newsrooms should aim to humanize the person at the center of the story. This can include writing about their hobbies, family and/or personal history to give readers a fuller picture of who they are and why they are a part of the protest. It’s also important to share details that legitimize the protest, rather than delegitimize it; in a recent study, stories that were told in a way that legitimized the teenager prompted more positive attitudes toward them and perceptions of the story’s credibility.