Drama of Media Coverage of Terrorism: Emotional and Attitudinal Impact on the Audience

• NCJ Number: 224498
• Journal: Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume: 31 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 627-640
• Author(s): Anat Shoshani; Michelle Slone
• Date Published: July 2008
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the effects of television broadcasts on terrorism on viewers' (n=300 Israeli adults) emotions and attitudes.

Abstract

The study findings confirmed the hypothesis that Israeli adults exposed to media reporting on and depictions of terrorist acts would exhibit significantly higher posttest levels of state anxiety, state anger, and negative and stereotypical perceptions of the enemy compared with viewers of violent but nonterrorism media depictions. This indicates that the intertwined nature of terrorism and its media portrayal produces an emotional invasion into the lives of a multitude of people far beyond the effects on the direct victims of the attack. Media portrayals of terrorist attacks can create the illusory effect of magnified strength as the viewing audience is drawn into the web of fear the terrorists wish to produce in the targeted population. It is important for both media personnel and their viewing audience to be aware of the manipulation of emotions and attitudes that terrorists wish to achieve through the widespread media dissemination of their attacks. This may produce both media and audience self-management that reduces the terrorists’ efforts to magnify the effects of their attacks on a wider segment of the targeted population. Study participants were 300 college and university students in Israel approximately evenly divided by gender. Participants were randomly allocated into 2 groups: those exposed to media depictions of terrorist acts (n=150) and those exposed to violent but nonterrorism media depictions (n=150). Prior and subsequent to the media viewing, participants were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in order to measure anxiety, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory in order to measure anger, a questionnaire that measured perceptions of the enemy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a differential semantic technique that measured stereotypical attributions toward Palestinians. 2 tables and 49 notes