Press coverage of lone-actor terrorism in the UK and Denmark: shaping the reactions of the public, affected communities and copycat attackers

ABSTRACT

Following 9/11, Al-Qaeda-orchestrated plots were considered the greatest threat to Western security and sparked the coalition’s war on terror. Close to a decade later, the post-9/11 threat landscape had shifted significantly, leading then CIA-director Leon Panetta to describe “the lone-wolf strategy” as the main threat to the United States. Subsequent lone-actor attacks across the West, including the cities of London, Nice, Berlin, Stockholm, Ottawa and Charleston, further entrenched perspectives of a transformed security landscape in the “after, after-9/11” world. The unique features of lone-actor terrorism, including the challenges of interdiction and potential of copycat attacks, mean that the media is likely to play a particularly important role in shaping the reactions of the public, affected communities and copycat attackers. This article presents findings from a content analysis of British and Danish newspaper reporting of lone-actor terrorism between January 2010 and February 2015. The study highlights that lone-actor terrorism is framed, with national variations, as a significant and increasing problem in both countries; that Islamist lone-actors are often represented as distinct from far-right lone-actors; and that some reporting, despite relatively limited amplification of specific terrorist messages, potentially aids lone-actors by detailing state vulnerabilities to attacks.

KEYWORDS:

• Media
• Terrorism
• Lone-Wolf
• Lone-Actor

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration, under grant agreement no. 608354.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary data can be accessed here

Notes

1. Based on Audit Bureau of Circulation figures for the newspaper industry published June 2014.

2. A minimum of three instances were required for the identification of a frame.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration, under [grant agreement no. 608354].

Notes on contributors

David Parker

Dr David Parker is an EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University. His research focuses upon anti-radicalisation communication strategies in the UK and Denmark, assessing how communication can be strengthened and how those individuals vulnerable to radicalisation can be more effectively reached. Prior to this, he worked in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, where his research focused on preventing, interdicting and mitigating lone-actor terrorism, as part of the EU-funded PRIME project. His work is published in several leading journals, including European Security and Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. David is a member of the Editorial Board at the International Center For Counter Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT) and acts as an Academic Advisor to the European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network (local authorities working group). In addition to his research, David is an experienced counterterrorism practitioner, with eight years of experience supporting the strategic local implementation of the UK government’s Prevent Strategy (counter-radicalisation) in West London.

Julia M. Pearce

Dr Julia M. Pearce is a research fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and Honorary Public Health Academic Consultant at Public Health England. Her research interests include risk and crisis communication, public health behaviour, extreme events and disasters, terrorism, social identity, social representations and moral panic. Specifically, she is interested in the impact of perceived moral, cultural and health threats on behaviour. Her recent research uses social psychological theories of risk perception and health behaviour to assess the impact of risk and crisis communication on risk perception and health behaviours, with a particular focus on extreme events (e.g. chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) terrorism). Dr Pearce is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Society for Risk Analysis. She sits on a number of advisory boards including the Cabinet Office National Risk Assessment Behavioural Science Expert Group as Deputy Chair, the Department of Health Pandemic Flu Communications Network Behavioural Science Advisory Sub-group and the Public Health England ERDG Psychosocial and Behavioural Issues Sub-group.

Lasse Lindekilde

Lasse Lindekilde is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University. He holds a PhD from the European University Institute. His research is focused on violent radicalisation and the implementation and effects of counterterrorism policies and communication. He has published more than 30 articles and book chapters in this domain. His work is interdisciplinary linking insights from political science, political sociology, criminology and social psychology. Methodologically, he has published work building on both field work, survey research and experimental techniques. His research is funded by amongst others the European Commission, the MINERVA-programme and the Danish Research Council. He is currently undertaking research looking at the importance of self-uncertainty and dark personality traits in violent radicalisation, the efficiency of pre-event communication campaigns aimed at prevention, interdiction and mitigation of violent extremism as well as the importance of community level factors to the emergence of radicalisation in certain neighbourhoods.

M. Brooke Rogers

Brooke Rogers OBE is Professor of Behavioural Science and Security in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London where she co-directs the MA in Terrorism, Security and Society. Professor Rogers is a social psychologist with an exceptional track record of designing and delivering over £21million of collaborative research projects funded by a variety of sources. The majority of these projects investigate public and practitioner responses to low likelihood, high-impact events such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) accidents or attacks. Others focus on protecting crowded places; business continuity resilience; pathways into violent radicalisation; insider threat; and community resilience.

Professor Rogers is the Chair of the Cabinet Office (CO) National Risk Assessment and National Security Risk Assessment Behavioural Science Expert Group. She maintains membership across a number of advisory groups, including the Home Office (HO) Science Advisory Council; the HO Office for Security and Counter Terrorism Science, Technology, Analysis and Research Programme Challenge Board; Public Health England’s Emergency Response Development Psychosocial and Behavioural Issues Sub-Group; and the Greater London Authority London Resilience Academic Partnership, among others. She also advises international organisations including the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).