Flipping the Protest Paradigm: How Festive Repertoires Neutralize Media Delegitimization in Mass Protests

The protest paradigm posits that mainstream media delegitimize civil protests through riot and violence frames. Comparing South Korea’s two presidential impeachment protest waves (2016–17 vs. 2024–25)—which shared similar political contexts, crowd sizes, and nonviolent tactics—this study examines how an intentional shift toward a festive repertoire flipped media coverage. Analyzing 29,512 nationwide newspaper articles using topic modeling (LDA/STM), semantic network analysis, and sentiment analysis, I trace framing shifts across protest waves and media ideologies. Findings show that introducing festive K-pop concert culture—symbolized by lightsticks, idol pop hits, and fan chants—rendered conservative media’s traditional delegitimization script incompatible with framing. Structural topic modeling reveals a significant rise in cultural and affective topics alongside a decline in physical clash frames. Semantic network analysis demonstrates that the network around 'lightstick' was more decentralized and less dense than that around 'candlelight', reflecting an emergent, non-deviant frame. Sentiment analysis further indicates that conservative outlets shifted from negative to neutral framing as festive elements offset delegitimizing terms. However, conservative media reverted to hostile riot framing when traditional protest modes returned without festive elements. Overall, this study demonstrates that joy can serve as an independent mechanism of subversion, rendering dominant media paradigms obsolete and turning pop culture into an asset for democratic resilience.