Studying media and terrorism: An analysis of mass communication literature from 1970 through 2005

The present study is an examination of academic literature published on the relationship between media and terrorism. The intent of this study was to determine the changes in academic writings on media and terrorism. Four well-known mass communication journals were selected as the sample. The selected books have mentioned terrorism or media explicitly in their titles or the subtitles. The period examined was 1970, when there was an upsurge of terrorist activities, to 2005, the post 9/11 era. This study showed that academic researchers have been consistently skeptical of the role of media in abetting terrorism. Studies have been conducted to prove that publicity leads to terrorism on a greater scale. However, a small group of researchers also believe that media has a positive role to perform in fighting terrorism. This study also examines various other issues involved in the study of the relationship between media and terrorism.