Transnational Terrorism and the Western Elite Press

In: Political communication and persuasion: an international journal, Band 1, Heft 3, S. 269-296

Abstract

Transnational terrorism is analyzed as a political resource or, more specifically, as a means of political communication. To examine how terrorists have used the media, a content analysis was performed of the coverage given to a selected sample of 158 incidents of transnational terrorism, between 1968 & 1974, by 2 major daily newspapers of the Western world: The New York Times, & The Times of London. Findings indicate that while transnational terrorism does generate a considerable amount of press attention, the particular type of coverage it receives would appear to undermine the effectiveness of terrorism as a communications strategy. 10 Tables, Appendix. HA.