Abstract
Powell’s 2011 study of media coverage of 11 post-9/11 terrorist events argued that a thematic framing exists which results in a model of media coverage of terrorism that is different for acts of terror committed by Muslims than by non-Muslims. This pattern connects terrorism to Islam, thus creating a fear of the “other” and aids terrorists in achieving their goal of creating a climate of fear. This study examines the 11 terrorist events since the last study, between 2011 and 2016, to determine if any changes in media coverage of terrorism have occurred in a climate of increased awareness of Islamophobia.
Highlights
In 2011, a study examining 11 terrorist events in the U.S since 9/11 argued that media coverage of terrorist events intensifies fear of Islam and Muslims by covering events committed by Muslims as part of a larger conspiracy of Islam on the U.S, while explaining terrorist events committed by non-Muslim U.S citizens as isolated individual acts of the mentally ill (Powell 2011)
The pressure to label an act by a Muslim as “terrorism” was great given the media framing that had already been established in the coverage of terrorist acts since 9/11 (Powell 2011)
The theme from the first study that did not emerge in this study was “probability of a future act,” perhaps because 10 of 11 of the terrorist acts in this study were committed by guns, the increase in gun violence in the U.S has become the new normal so the probability is always there, and the fear of Islam is so engrained that there is always fear of a terrorist attack
Summary
In 2011, a study examining 11 terrorist events in the U.S since 9/11 argued that media coverage of terrorist events intensifies fear of Islam and Muslims by covering events committed by Muslims as part of a larger conspiracy of Islam on the U.S, while explaining terrorist events committed by non-Muslim U.S citizens as isolated individual acts of the mentally ill (Powell 2011). Though the awareness of Islamophobia has grown, the climate of fear of Islam has persisted and even increased, resulting in efforts to halt immigration for those from Islamic countries This parallel study examines the 11 terrorist attacks occurring from 2011–2016 in the U.S to determine if the pattern of media coverage persists, or if it has shifted in a changing political climate more aware of Islamophobia
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