Exploring UK media’s influences on public perceptions of LGBTQIA+ representations at pride festivals

Pride and festivals have contributed significantly to social change by increased visibility and campaigning for gay rights, highlighting the importance of the events industry in enhancing the LGBTQIA+ movement’s representation. This has not been reflected in research with a lack of convergence between queer, social-cognitive behaviour and communication theories. This study addresses this gap by investigating the UK?news media’s representations of Pride and their impact on public perceptions of the LGBTQIA+ community. ‘Sentiwordnet’ opinion mining software was used to analyse media representations of pride in eight UK newspapers. Selected images and headlines were then embedded into a survey to understand image perception, headline correlation and exposure to different media types. The study found limited influence of traditional news media on participants’ perceptions of pride, despite some negative framing. Fifth estate journalism emerges as positive and influential, revealing a shift in media representation influences. The paper proposes a revised framework incorporating the Fifth estate when measuring public perceptions of LGBTQIA+.