Terrorism and the Media

55 Pages Posted: 4 Oct 2014 Last revised: 24 Sep 2024

See all articles by Michael Jetter

Michael Jetter

University of Western Australia; IZA

Abstract

This paper systematically analyzes media attention devoted to terrorist attacks worldwide between 1998 and 2012. Several aspects are related to predicting media attention. First, suicide missions receive significantly more coverage, which could explain their increased popularity among terrorist groups. This result is further supported by Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions, suggesting that it is not the particular characteristics of suicide attacks (e.g., more casualties) that are driving heightened media attention.Second, less attention is devoted to attacks in countries located further away from the US. Third, acts of terror in countries governed by leftist administrations draw more coverage. However, this finding is not confirmed for suicide attacks conducted in countries ruled by leftist administrations. Fourth, the more a country trades with the US, the more media coverage an attack in that country receives. Finally, media attention of any terror attack is both predictive of the likelihood of another strike in the affected country within seven days' time and of a reduced interval until the next attack.

Keywords: political orientation, suicide attacks, media attention, terrorism

JEL Classification: F52, L82, N40, Z12

Suggested Citation

Jetter, Michael, Terrorism and the Media. IZA Discussion Paper No. 8497, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2505359

Michael Jetter (Contact Author)

University of Western Australia ( email )

35 Stirling Highway
Crawley, WA Western Australia 6009
AUSTRALIA

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