Packaging Terrorism Co-opting the News for Politics and Profit

by Moeller, Susan

• ISBN13: 9781405173650
• ISBN10: 1405173653
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-15
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

"Packaging Terrorism is the account of a very simple idea. The idea is this: that it's not the acts of terrorism that most matter in the post 9/11 world, it's what we are told to think about the acts of terrorism. Politicians tell us what to think. The media tell us what to think. Even terrorists tell us what to think. They all want to attract our attention. They all have reasons for wanting us to think in a certain way. They all want to tell us why an act of terrorism matters. They all have agendas. They all are packaging terrorism for our consumption. We are the audience for all those disparate actors." Terrorism has become an every-day global event--in Iraq, in Israel, in India, in Indonesia, and in the United States. Packaging Terrorism investigates how western media have identified and covered international terrorism and violence since September 11, 2001. Comparing US coverage with that of British and of Arab media, Packaging Terrorism not only explores media coverage of terrorism around the world, but also explains the priorities, assumptions, political debates, deadline pressures and bottom-line considerations that will continue to influence this coverage in the future.

Author Biography

Susan Moeller is the Director of the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda (ICMPA) at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	p. viii
Introduction: A Very Simple Idea	p. 1
What Is Terrorism?	p. 3
How Is Terrorism Covered?	p. 36
What Are the Images of Terror?	p. 128
Conclusion: Packaging Terrorism	p. 179
ICMPA Studies of Media Coverage of Terrorism Incidents	p. 189
Acknowledgments	p. 195
Notes	p. 200
Index	p. 230
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