The effects of journalistic routines on LGBTQ+ advocates’ efforts to influence media framing of religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws

Abstract

In-depth interviews with 26 journalists from large mainstream news outlets who covered the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission U.S. Supreme Court case indicate that LGBTQ+ advocacy organization efforts to influence journalists’ decision-making processes related to story angle and sourcing were unsuccessful. Instead, journalists relied on official court documents as sources, avoiding press advisories from social movement organizations in an effort to maintain neutrality and impartiality.