Transmitting the threat: Media coverage and the discussion of terrorism and civil liberties since 9/11

Abstract

Since 11 September 2001, a significant portion of the public debate in the United States has focused upon the threat of terrorism. Previous scholarship has concluded that exposure to threatening information may result in significant alterations to individual decision‐making and, ultimately, may influence support for expansive civil liberties. Since information may critically impact support for civil liberties, the current study investigates alterations in print and broadcast media content related to civil liberties before and after 11 September 2001. The content analyses utilized here focus upon the types of content (such as threatening information, group‐specific information, and contextual information) that experimental research has suggested may influence individual decision‐making concerning civil liberties. Results suggest that threatening information in the media coverage of civil liberties escalated following 9/11 until it peaked in the year 2003. Following 2003, levels of threatening information gradually decreased, returning to pre‐9/11 levels in 2006. In comparison to broadcast media, the print media seems to have experienced fewer changes following 9/11.

Keywords:

• terrorism
• media
• content analysis
• civil liberties
• threat
• crisis

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Clyde Wilcox, Douglas Reed, James Lengle and the editors for their advice and guidance throughout the course of this research and in preparing this article.