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Abstract
Several studies conducted after 9/11 found that American journalists have largely embraced the government's official frame of the “War on Terror.” Drawing from the claim of an ideological bond, this study investigates how American news media covered politically violent organizations that are not linked to Al Qaeda or the events of 9/11. More specifically, the article examines whether the media's inconsistent use of the word “terror” changed as a consequence of 9/11 by comparing the coverage of these organizations before and after 9/11. A quantitative content analysis of American media indicates that overall the coverage of political violence did not change after 9/11. Moreover, journalists remained vigilant about using the word “terror” when covering politically violent organization.
Notes
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*p < .10
**p< .05
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*First difference significance at the 95% confidence level.
1. Pierce Robinson, “The CNN Effect Revisited,” Critical Studies in Media Communication 22(4) (2005), pp. 344–349.
2. David Domke, God Willing? Political Fundamentalism in the White House, the “War on Terror,” and the Echoing Press (Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2004); Amy Fried, “Terrorism as a Context of Coverage Before the Iraq War,” Press/Politics 10(3) (2005), pp. 125–132; Pippa Norris et al., Framing Terrorism (New York: Routledge, 2003); Michael Ryan, “Framing the War against Terrorism,” Gazette: the International Journal for Communication Studies 66(5) (2004), pp. 363–382.
3. Brigitte L. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism: The Central Role of the Media in Terrorism and Counterterrorism (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002).
4. Robert M. Entman, “Cascading Activation: Contesting the White House’ Frame after 9/11,” Political Communication 20 (2003), pp. 415–432.
5. Robert M. Entman, “Framing U.S. Coverage of International News: Contrasts in Narratives of the KAL and the Iran Air Incidents,” Journal of Communication 41(4) (1991), pp. 6–27.
6. See Entman, “Cascading Activation,” p. 417.
7. Todd Gitlin, The Whole World is Watching (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980); Stephen D. Reese, “Prologue—Framing Public Life: A Bridging Model for Media Research,” in Stephen D. Reese, Oscar H. Gandy Jr., and August E. Grant, eds., Framing Public Life. Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001), pp. 7–33.
8. Pamela J. Shoemaker and Stephen D. Reese, Mediating the Message (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1996).
9. Ibid.
10. David Manning White, “The ‘Gate Keeper’: A Case Study in the Selection of News,” Journalism Quarterly 27 (1950), pp. 383–390; Teun Adrianus van Dijk, “Structures of News in the Press,” in Teun Adrianus van Dijk, ed., Discourse and Communication: New Approaches to the Analysis of Mass Media Discourse and Communication (New York: W. de Gruyter, 1985); William A. Gamson and Andre Modigliani, “Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach,” American Journal of Sociology 95 (1989), pp. 1–37.
11. Tsan-Kuo Chang and Jae-Won Lee, “Factors Affecting Gatekeepers’ Selection of Foreign News: A National Survey of Newspaper Editors,” Journalism Quarterly 69 (1992), pp. 554–561; see White, “The ‘Gate Keeper.’”
12. W. Lance Bennett, “Toward a Theory of Press-State Relations in the United States,” Journal of Communication 40 (1990), pp. 103–125; Herbert Gans, Deciding What's News (New York: Vintage, 1979); Daniel C. Hallin, The Uncensored War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986); Bernard Roshco, Newsmaking (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1975); Leon V. Sigal, Reporters and Officials: The Organization and Politics of News Making (Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath, 1973).
13. See Entman, “Cascading Activation”; William A. Gamson and Gadi Wolfsfeld, “Movements and Media as Interacting Systems,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 528 (1993), pp. 114–125.
14. See Roshco, Newsmaking and Sigal, Reporters and Officials.
15. Hallin, The Uncensored War
16. Ralph E. Dowling, “Terrorism and the Media: A Rhetorical Genre,” Journal of Communication 36 (1) (1986), pp. 12–24; Walter Laqueur, “The Futility of Terrorism,” Harper's 252(1510) (1976); L. John Martin, “The Media's Role in International Terrorism,” Terrorism 8(2) (1985), pp. 127–146.
17. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.
18. Robert G. Picard, Media Portrayals of Terrorism: Functions and Meaning of News Coverage (Ames: Iowa University Press, 1993).
19. Ronald Crelinsten, “Power and Meaning: Terrorism as a Struggle over Access to the Communication Structure,” in Paul Wilkinson and Alasdair M. Stewart, eds., Contemporary Research on Terrorism (Aberdeen, Scotland: University of Aberdeen Press, 1987), pp. 419–450).
20. Edward C. Epstein, “The Uses of Terrorism: A Study in Media Bias,” Stanford Journal of International Studies 12 (1977), pp. 68–71.
21. Alex P. Schmid and Janny de Graaf, Violence as Communication: Insurgent Terrorism and the Western News Media (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publication, 1982).
22. Martin, “The Media's Role in International Terrorism.”
23. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.
24. A. Odasua Alali and Kenoye Kelvin Eke, Media Coverage of Terrorism: Methods of Diffusion (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1991).
25. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.
26. Ibid., 97.
27. Ibid., 98.
28. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.
29. Domke, God Willing?; Fried, “Terrorism as a Context of Coverage Before the Iraq War”; Norris et al., Framing Terrorism; Ryan, “Framing the War against Terrorism.”
30. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism, p. 98.
31. Alali and Eke, Media Coverage of Terrorism.
32. The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism database is no longer available online but similar data can be found at www.start.umd.edu/start/data
33. A direct link is defined as being an ally, training at Al Qaeda camps, being part of the Al Qaeda network, or receiving financial support from Al Qaeda.
34. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.
35. Three Palestinian groups fit the two conditions—Hamas, Fatah, and Islamic Jihad—all somewhat fighting for the same cause. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad was chosen because it focuses exclusively on terrorist attacks. Similarly, both the Ejercio Liberacion Nacional (National Liberation Army—ELN) and the FARC in Colombia fit the criteria outlined above. Both organizations share the same ideology and are defined as allies in the dataset. (www.start.umd.edu/start/data/). The author has therefore decided to focus on the FARC and the AUC, both of which share a vicious rivalry.
36. See www.state.gov/global/ terrorism
37. Alex P. Schmid and Albert J. Jongman, Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1988).
38. See www.state.gov
39. See www.whitehouse.org
40. See www.presidency.ucsb.edu
41. T. Groseclose and J. Milyo, “A Measure of Media Bias,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 120(4) (2005), pp. 1191–1237.
42. Initially the analysis included positive labels such as “freedom fighters” or “independence movement.” These labels however were seldom used and therefore dropped from the analysis.
43. The analysis originally considered politically violent organizations and victims as possible primary sources. Since only one article mentioned a politically violent organization as primary source this category was dropped. No articles were encountered that relied on victims as the primary source.
44. Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism, p. 98.
45. Gary King, Michael Tomz, and Jason Wittenberg, “Making the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation,” American Journal of Political Science 44(2) (2000), pp. 347–361.
46. A prior analysis of two Islamic groups, Hamas and Group Islamique Armée [Armed Islamic Group] (GIA), showed similar results.
47. Epstein, “The Uses of Terrorism”; see Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.
48. See New York Times, 23 October 2003, p. 1.
49. See Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism.