Full metadata
Title
The framing of terrorism: how American and international television news script a global drama
Description
Scholars have identified the mass media plays a crucial role in the dissemination of terror messages. Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, much attention has been paid to terrorism in the global television landscape. More recently, the discourse surrounding acts of terror has changed, in part due to the people behind the attacks. This study seeks to understand how global television news broadcasts frame acts of terror based on two current threats: the individual terrorist (the Lone Wolf) and the organized group (the Islamic State). Using the theoretical framework of Entman’s framing theory and Altheide’s (1987) notion of a global drama, this research identifies the ways global news organizations frame acts of terror both visually and verbally based on the classification of the attacker. Using content analysis methodology, this study analyzed six terror attacks that took place between November, 2015 and December, 2016. Three of these attacks were classified as “Lone Wolves” and three were carried out by the terrorist organization called the Islamic State. This study looked at 562 stories on six global news channels and examined 9,479 images. Through a comparative analysis, three American and three International news channels were examined. It was discovered global news networks contain visual differences in framing, but similarities in verbal framing. Although it was expected to find vast differences in global news’ framing of acts of terror, this study finds a homogenization of the television news narrative following terrorist attacks. This study builds on existing research and suggests a global script for covering acts of terror that has several implications from a theoretical and practical standpoint. Findings indicate global coverage of Islamic State attacks employ and “Us vs. Them” frame, while Lone Wolf attacks are framed as “Us vs. Us”, a new frame presented in this study. The results advance the literature focused on framing theory, comparative journalism research and global television news coverage of terrorism. As terrorism has garnered extensive media attention, understanding the ways that global news frames terrorism has vast implications.
Date Created
2018
Contributors
- Gimbal, Ashley L (Author)
- Silcock, Burton William (Thesis advisor)
- Craft, John (Committee member)
- Chadha, Monica (Committee member)
- Doig, Steve (Committee member)
- Gallab, Abdullahi (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
- journalism
- Broadcast News
- Framing
- Mass Media
- Terrorism
- Television broadcasting of news
- Television broadcasting of news--United States.
- Terrorism--Press coverage--United States.
- Terrorism
- Terrorism--Press coverage.
- Terrorists--Press coverage--United States.
- Terrorists
- Terrorists--Press coverage.
- Terrorists
Resource Type
Extent
xv, 231 pages : color illustrations
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.49412
Statement of Responsibility
by Ashley L. Gimbal
Description Source
Viewed on December 14, 2018
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2018
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 214-225)
Field of study: Journalism and mass communication
System Created
- 2018-06-01 08:13:16
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 3 years 2 months ago
Additional Formats