Fear of terrorism: media exposure and subjective fear of attack

Abstract

In many Western countries, citizen knowledge of terrorist events is intrinsically shaped by the style of broadcasted messages published by the media. Media discourses regarding terrorist acts raise questions about how such rhetoric elicits fear in people who typically experience such events through news reports. However, we do not fully understand the impact of the media on perceptions of terrorism as clearly as we understand the relationship between the media and fear of crime. This study examines how media sources accessed actively (e.g., through newspapers; Internet) or passively (e.g., through television; radio) influence knowledge and fear of terrorism. We find receiving information about terrorism from multiple media sources increases fear of terrorism, but media sources accessed passively are not as influential as media sources accessed more actively. These results highlight how media consumption from various sources may affect one's fear of terrorism, and further illustrates how the role of perceived knowledge may exacerbate or mitigate fear.Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Crime News Consumption and Fear of Violence: The Role of Traditional Media, Social Media, and Alternative Information Sources

“…The more widespread the consumption of social media and alternative information sources was, the more likely respondents were to report fear of street violence. In contrast, perceiving terrorism as a threat to oneself is linked to a more specific use of new types of social media and information sources, finding which is actually in line with findings from study by Williamson and colleagues (2019). This might indicate that fear of terrorism resonates slightly more with self-selection and more active information seeking, than perhaps with passive consumption of information through traditional media.…”

“…Following this, Leiner et al (2016) put forward suggestions for intervention and preventive measures regarding children’s potential exposure to such media content. In relation to our research premise, a recent study by Williamson and colleagues (2019) found that active, multiple media–related consumption of news and information about terrorism, increased respondents’ fear of terrorism, whereas more passive consumption of television and radio did not have similar effects. This would perhaps suggest that self-selection plays a role in explaining the relationships between media, crime and fear.…”

“…However, our findings do also show that self-selection, respondents’ own interest in violent crime, associates with the risk of fear of violence. This would indicate that not everyone is a passive consumer of crime, but some are more actively seeking such content (see also Williamson et al, 2019). Next, we discuss our findings in more detail.…”

Who Is Concerned about Terrorist Attacks? A Religious Profile

“…Also, Cohen-Louck and Levy (2018) found that men reported higher perceptions than women regarding risk perception of terrorism. Contrary to the results in this study, Williamson et al (2019) found a positive association between fear of terrorist attacks and age and a negative one with married participants (less fear). However, the same authors reported that as educational achievement increases, the fear of terrorism decreases, in agreement with the results in this study.…”

The rising fear of terrorism and the emergence of a European security governance space: citizen perceptions and EU counterterrorism cooperation

“…Terrorism differs from crime in that it is designed to harm random victims and to instil general fear in an entire population, a process in which media reporting plays an important part (Williamson, Fay, and Miles-Johnson 2019). Evidence from Israel show that persons in areas with more exposure to terrorist attacks have greater fear than those residing in less exposed areas (Shechory-Bitton and Cohen-Louck 2018), while Todd, Wilson, and Casey (2005) demonstrate that previous experience of terrorist attacks also have a national impact.…”