Framing Terrorism: The News Media, the Government and the Public

Description

Terrorism now dominates the headlines of all the networks from New York to London, and Rome to Moscow and is spreading from Al Jazeera in Qatar to Islamabad, Riyadh, Baghdad, and Kabul. This work argues that headlines matter as much as the act, in political terms. Widely publicized terrorist incidents leave an imprint upon pubic opinion, muzzle the 'watchdog' role of journalists and promote a general one-of-us consensus supporting the security forces, and generate a strong reaction by governments attempting to limit the voice of terrorist groups. The contributors of this new work begin by focusing on how governments, security forces, and terrorist groups seek to manipulate the news, including the legal and normative issues of formal and informal government censorship and curbs on freedom of the press. The contributors compare coverage of 9/11 to coverage of other incidents of terrorist violence, including Israel-Palestine and Northern Ireland. They then focus upon how journalists construct the news and how the public responds to news coverage - including 'rallying-around-the-flag', public attention and comprehension of terrorist events, and the public's response to issues of civil liberties vs. security. This book will provide a systematic comparison of the patterns and consequences of mass media coverage of terrorism.

"What we think we know about terrorism depends in part on how the issue is framed. This book provides a fascinating combination of theory and cases about what the press tells us. Read it to find out what you really know!."-Joseph S. Nye, author of "The Paradox of American Power "This is an extremely timely and important book that brings together some extremely important research about the news media and terrorism. The international perspective is especially welcome and I am sure that this will become an important resource for both scholars and students.."-Gadi Wolfsfeld, Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University "At a time when terrorism has redefined US foreign policy and the balance between civil liberties and security, one cannot think of a more important subject than the media's portrayal of terrorism. Framing Terrorism is a major contribution toward developing a thoughtful response to the threat of terrorism.."-Steven Livingston, Senior Research Fellow, Center for American Politics and Public Policy, University of Washington