| The purpose of this thesis is two-fold: (1) to address the scarcity of security theory literature investigating the role of the media in the securitization process; and (2) to show, with clear specifications, the kinds of linguistic devices and words used by the news media that influence elite perceptions, priorities, and policies. This study proves through its review of several disciplinary literatures and systematic qualitative analyses of news media discourse in "real-time" that the news media interpret and evaluate threats, persuade elite and public audiences, and expedite the securitization of issues by elites. The media's security discourse is composed, and their interpretive role achieved by means of: (1) the use of security speech acts in conjunction with security-implicating wording or associations; (2) the use of security metaphors employed with security-implicating wording or associations; and (3) the methods of framing employed by the news media to select, emphasize, and position security issues and thus structure political reality. Several subordinate objectives of this study include: presenting evidence of the explanatory value of securitization as a framework for analysis, advancing the social constructivist project, providing a strong non-traditionalist approach to security grounded in concrete research, and proving that cross-fertilization is possible between international relations theory, security theory, speech act theory, cognitive semantics, and media discourse analysis. Avenues of future research in this intriguing new research project include: analysis of audience reception of the security interpretations of the news media, quantitative investigations of security language, and examinations of the civil liberties implications of institutionalized security policy that progresses quickly in part because of news media interpretations of threats. |
