Digital Social Advocacy in the Justice for Trayvon Campaign

Abstract

This study examined the digital media ecosystem that developed during the Justice for Trayvon campaign prior to the arrest of Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman. Research literature in public relations, social advocacy, and digital communication, as well as content relevant to the campaign in Lexis/Nexis and on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, were used to develop a theoretical model of digital social advocacy within the context of public relations management.

Notes

¹Because Trayvon and other youth were minors at the time of their death, they are referred to by their first names and to distinguish Trayvon from his father, Tracy Martin, who after first reference is referred to as Martin.

²A fourth independent variable, referent criterion, also was included, but then discarded. A referent criterion is a cross-situational attitude that guides one's problem solving (J. E. Grunig, 1997). Referent criterion has been reintroduced in J.-N. Kim and J. E. Grunig's (2011) situational theory of problem solving.

³Bloom (2014) provided evidence that zero-tolerance policies in public schools disproportionately penalize African American boys. As she noted, at the time of the shooting, Trayvon was spending time with his father in Sanford because he had been suspended from school for carrying a baggie that contained marijuana residue.