How Does the Business of News Influence Terrorism Coverage? Evidence FromThe Washington PostandUSA Today

Tweeting about terror: A World Systems Theory approach to comparing international newspaper coverage online

“…The tweets were collected from the Twitter accounts of the six top US and UK newspapers: The New York Times (US), The Wall Street Journal (US), The Washington Post (US), The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), and The Times (UK). The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal , and The Washington Post are elite American newspapers (Dimitrova and Strömbäck, 2005; Hoffman et al., 2010) with some of the highest print and digital audiences in the US and abroad (Beaujon, 2014; WashPostPR, 2016). Likewise, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph , and The Times are the leading dailies in the United Kingdom (Hollander, 2013).…”

“…Not every attack receives equal news coverage, so which of these attacks make news and why? Previous studies have mixed results, as Hoffman et al. (2010) showed that newspapers devote more attention to attacks employing bombs and armed assaults, and less attention to suicide attacks and kidnappings.…”

“…(2017) found that increased fatalities, an identification of Muslim attackers, and arrests of suspects resulted in more US media coverage. Also, US-based attacks or terrorist acts with US casualties garnered more media attention than incidents outside of the US or those without US casualties (Hoffman et al., 2010). Moreover, previous research found a relationship between national identities of victims and the volume of press coverage (Weimann and Brosius, 1991).…”

“…The geographic location of an attack also affects the amount of media coverage it receives (Hoffman et al., 2010; Weimann and Brosius, 1991). Terrorist attacks in the nearby countries received more media attention than terrorist attacks in more distant countries (Jetter, 2014).…”

Comfortably Numb: Effects of Prolonged Media Coverage

“…Between 2002 and 2006, for example, readers of The Washington Post could read an average of eleven terrorism articles in their newspaper per day. Between 1975 and 2000, those same readers would encounter an average of just 1.5 terrorism article per day (Hoffman et al 2010). Televised terrorism coverage increased as well.…”