‘I feel your pain’: Terrorism, the media and the politics of response

Abstract

This paper focuses on the interaction between a rapidly changing media and the policy responses of UK governments, faced with terrorist violence which has evolved in form and intent. New Labour's final term in office was dominated by the tension between the competing claims of liberty and security, expressed in Tony Blair's declaration after the 7/7 attacks, 'Let no-one be in any doubt, the rules of the game are changing.' We argue that insofar as crime, justice and civil rights are governed by a normative set of rules, they were subverted by New Labour in the mid-1990s for party political reasons. Thus, after 9/11, they needed little reshaping to meet the challenge of 21st-century terrorism. Our thesis is based partly on primary interviews and partly on analyses of media coverage, parliamentary debates and government responses in the form of press releases and speeches. The purpose of the interviews-with 'insider' figures from the world of politics, the police and civil society-was to triangulate the known policy responses to 9/11 with the views and perceptions of these figures to assess whether some of the assumptions about the impact of that event on the UK need to be rethought.

Rethinking political PR: A theoretical framework towards supporting social integration in the UK

“…This is where political PR extends beyond the observable political roles in, for example, election campaigns and news management to transcend to the critical and socio-cultural approaches. In the British government approach to multiculturalism and terrorism, the reality is denied and, therefore, all strategies have failed to accomplish their purposes in supporting social integration and countering extremism (Appleby, 2010; Asthana and Walker, 2016; Braidotti, 2016; Gregory, 2019; Gündüz, 2010; Halliday and Dodd, 2015; Hill, 2017; Inglehart and Norris, 2016; Kaufmann and Harris, 2014; Kaya, 2018; Kymlicka, 2012; Martinelli, 2011; Muir, 2017; Mythen and Walklate, 2006; Poynting, 2013; Ragazzi, 2016; Savage, 2019; Silverman and Thomas, 2012; Turner, 2006). Britain is on a social and cultural journey to resolve the long-standing issues of extremism and pluralism, bridge communication gaps and integrate communities.…”

“…First, the contemporary nature of the research topic brings more importance to the type of communicative and engagement strategies used in NGOs. The literature also shows a demand to explore alternative techniques, which implies that since the 2005 London bombings, there seems to be no real improvements in how the government and media addressed the research problem (Ferguson, 2016;Hill, 2017;Innes, 2006;Ragazzi, 2016Ragazzi, , 2017Sanz Sabido, 2012;Silverman and Thomas, 2012). Accordingly, it was necessary to analyse these NGOs to figure out what they are missing.…”

A consensus that impedes contestation: Debating migration-related diversity in post-terror Norway

“…Polarisation dominates public debate about migration-related diversity in liberal democracies both in the Global North and South (Abdel-Fattah, 2020; Dryzek & Kanra, 2014; Silverman & Thomas, 2012). Such polarisation reflects deep-seated conflicts over the question of who belongs in which nations (Antonsich & Matejskova, 2015; Ewart et al, 2022).…”

Populism, extremism and media: Mapping an uncertain terrain

“…In the urge to strengthen democratic accountability, security agencies have become more transparent and there is a certain degree of exposure in the media of their activities. This has ironically contributed to increase ‘public anxiety’ (Silverman and Thomas, 2012: 284) both in regard to terrorism and immigration. Such anxieties and difficulties have conditioned the tone of the media and political debates on European identity in a multicultural society.…”