Terrorism Programming

Abstract

Mass media reports about terrorism prepared audiences for the Iraq War. Expanded social control efforts, including surveillance and suspension of civil liberties, were deemed necessary to fight terrorism. The fight against terrorism and the Iraq War were presented to audiences through an exhaustive propaganda campaign that included dramatisation of enemy threats, how to consume and be patriotic. All of this required a complicit news media that carried governmental claims and justifications. Analysis of news coverage suggests that this war was presented as Terrorism Programming, or the selective use of claims makers/news sources within a normative pattern, which included occasional detractors to give the appearance of debate. The implications of this approach for social control are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

Keywords:

• terrorism
• media
• propaganda
• fear
• social control
• media logic

Notes

1. For further information on PNAC, see http://www.newamericancentury.org/.