Terrorism as Communication: Stocktaking, Explanations and Challenges

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
1: The Relevance of Terrorism Research Based on Communication Studies
2: Perspective Description and Delimitation of Object and Knowledge Range
2.1 What Is Terrorism?
2.1.1 Own Normative Positioning
2.1.2 Scholarly Definitions
2.1.3 Definitions from Politics
2.1.4 Classification Attempts and Typologies
2.1.5 Terrorism as Label and Tag
2.1.6 The Research Object “Terrorism” in Communication Studies
2.2 Specification of the Term “Communication” for Terrorism Research
2.3 Interim Summary
3: Identification of Relevant Process Steps and Actors in Terrorism
3.1 Terrorism as a Process
3.1.1 Lasswell Formula
3.1.2 Stimulus-Response
3.2 Actors in the Process
3.2.1 Actor Models
3.2.2 Communication Quadrangle
3.3 Stratification into Social Levels
3.4 System for Recording the Terrorist Communication Process
3.5 Interim Summary
4: Middle-Range Theories and Their Applicability to the Phenomenon of “Terrorism”
4.1 A Terrorist Organization Emerges: Organizational Communication and the Formation of Collective Identity
4.2 Written, Visual and Oral Communication of the Terrorist (Group)
4.2.1 Terrorism and Public Relations
4.2.2 Terrorism and Marketing
4.2.3 Terrorism and the Internet
4.3 The Terrorist Attack as Violent Communication
4.3.1 Terrorism as Symbolic Communication
4.3.2 Terrorism as Strategic Communication
4.3.3 Terrorism as Propaganda of the Deed
4.3.4 Terrorism as a Media Event: Routine in Chaos
4.3.5 Interim Summary
4.4 Claims of Responsibility: Attribution of Responsibility
4.5 Determining the General Relationship Between Terrorism and the Media
4.5.1 Categorization of the State of Research
4.5.2 Terrorism and the Media as a Symbiotic or Parasitic Relationship
4.5.3 Terrorism Reporting: Potential for Contagion?
4.6 The Micro Level of Communicators: Journalists, Terrorists, Politicians and Citizens
4.6.1 The Decision-Making Power of the Gatekeeper
4.6.2 The Importance of Word Choice
4.6.3 Citizen Journalism in Terrorism Reporting
4.7 Media: Selection of Events, Event Characteristics and (Attitudinal) Foci
4.7.1 News Values in Terrorism Reporting
4.7.2 News Bias: Bias in Reporting
4.7.3 Agenda Building and Agenda Setting (Media Agenda)
4.8 Media: News Editing and Production Setting
4.8.1 Terrorism and Formats
4.8.2 The Power of Visual Media Content
4.8.3 Narrative Embedding of Acts of Terrorism: Discourses, Metaphors, Myths, Frames
4.9 Theories of Rhetoric
4.10 Communication Rules in Terrorism Reporting
4.11 Crisis Communication Theories and Case Studies on the Interaction of Media and Government
4.11.1 Theory of Change
4.11.2 Interim Summary
4.12 Use, Reception and Impact of Terrorism-Related Messages
4.12.1 Uses and Gratifications
4.12.2 The Audience Agenda
4.12.3 Status Conferral: The Attribution of Importance
4.12.4 Effects of Media Framing
4.12.5 Priming: Judgment on the Part of the Recipient
4.12.6 Terrorism Reporting and the Spiral of Silence
4.12.7 Reception and Effects of Visual Content
4.12.8 Reception and Impact of Terrorism (News) in the Economic Sector
4.12.9 Interim Summary
5: Terrorism from the Perspective of Grand Theories of Communication Studies
5.1 Terrorism from the Perspective of Systems Theory
5.2 Terrorism from the Perspective of Constructivism
5.3 Theories of Action and Their Applicability to the Phenomenon of Terrorism
5.4 Socially Integrative Approaches to Terrorism Research
5.5 Theories of the Public Sphere and Their Usefulness for the Analysis of Terrorism as Communication
5.6 Interim Summary
6: Theoretical Conclusions and Practical Implications
6.1 Compilation and System of Theoretical Approaches for Capturing Terrorism as Communication
6.2 Consequences for Politics, Media and Scholarship
6.3 Future Research on Terrorism in Communication Studies
References