Framing alleged Islamist plots: a case study of British press coverage since 9/11

Abstract

In the decade after 9/11, the UK terrorist threat was associated with a series of high-profile counterterrorism operations linked to specific plots. These terrorism-related episodes received significant media attention and, as a consequence, were a visible sign of the contemporary terrorist threat. This article seeks to identify the dominant frames rendered in news media reporting on these episodes. Through a longitudinal study of UK press coverage, the analysis reveals that two prominent frames were present, an inevitability and preparedness frame, with alleged plots serving to underline the risk posed by contemporary terrorism, and a belonging and responsibility frame, which cast later episodes as belonging to the Muslim communities disrupted by police operations.

Keywords:

• terrorism
• alleged plots
• news framing
• newspapers

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Ashley Crowson for his assistance in analysing the data and also the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday; The Sun/The News of the World; The Daily Mirror/the Sunday Mirror; The Times/The Sunday Times; The Independent/The Independent on Sunday; The Daily Telegraph/The Sunday Telegraph; The Guardian/The Observer; The Daily Express/The Sunday Express; The Daily Star; The Sunday People and The Financial Times.

2. Subsequently revised in July 2009 and July 2011.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jamie Matthews

Jamie Matthews is Lecturer in Communication and Media at Bournemouth University, UK. He holds an MA in Contemporary War and Peace Studies from the University of Sussex and a PhD in Public Communication from Bournemouth University. Jamie’s research interests centre on media coverage of conflict and crisis and its influence on the dynamics of public opinion. He has published and presented research on representation and discourses of terrorism and counterterrorism policy, news sources and audience perception.