Article

Prevention of Terrorism in Post-9/11 America: News Coverage, Public Perceptions, and the Politics of Homeland Security

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Terrorism and Political Violence
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Abstract

This study finds that the issue of preventing terrorist attacks has received surprisingly little attention by decision-makers and the news media, and only sporadic interest by pollsters. When it comes to homeland security, how to protect the nation and its people from actual attacks takes a back seat to press coverage of threats and other aspects of terrorism, particularly the administration's arguments for fighting the “war on terrorism” abroad as a means to prevent further terrorism at home. This inattention to the difficult task of preventing further catastrophic terror attacks by taking measures at home may affect the nation's vigilance as time has passed since 9/11.

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... After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, people were worried about further terrorist activities inside the U.S. They were highly concerned about the physical threat to themselves and their families (Nacos, Bloch-Elkon & Shapiro, 2008). ...
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... MMC TV (Mesopotamia Music Channel), based in Belgium, broadcasts music programs that promotes separatism (Yayla, Ozdemır, & Gıllıy, 2008). ME TV (Mesopotamia TV), which is cultural and social TV outlet, started its broadcasts on September 19, 1999 (Mesopotamia TV, 2010). Officially it was opened on June 17, 2000 in Denmark with the participation of Anker Jørgensen, the former Prime Minister of Denmark (The Opening Reception of Mesopotamia TV, 2000;Laciner, 2008). ...
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The Edge of Disaster
  • Stephen Flynn
Stephen Flynn, The Edge of Disaster (New York: Random House, 2007), 4–5.
For a detailed analysis of the American public's fears of further terrorist strikes inside their country following the attacks on which we draw on further in this article, see
  • Brigitte L Nacos
  • Yaeli Bloch-Elkon
  • Robert Y Shapiro
For a detailed analysis of the American public's fears of further terrorist strikes inside their country following the attacks on September 11, 2001, which we draw on further in this article, see Brigitte L. Nacos, Yaeli Bloch-Elkon, and Robert Y. Shapiro, ''Post-9=11 Terrorism Threats, News Coverage, and Public Perceptions in the United States,'' International Journal of Conflict & Violence 1, no. 2 (Fall 2007).
The Watchdog Role of the Press
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W. Lance Bennett and William Serrin, ''The Watchdog Role of the Press,'' in Doris Graber, ed., Media Power in Politics (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2007), 327.
Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding Threats and Responses in the Post-9=11 World
  • Brigitte L Nacos
Brigitte L. Nacos, Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding Threats and Responses in the Post-9=11 World (New York: Longman, 2006), 246.
see note 12 above), 40. 22. Page and Shapiro (see note 7 above)
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  • Hardy
Jamieson, Hardy, and Roemer (see note 12 above), 40. 22. Page and Shapiro (see note 7 above), chapter 8.
Fear and Terrorism: Psychological Reactions to 9=11
  • Leonie Huddy
Leonie Huddy et al., ''Fear and Terrorism: Psychological Reactions to 9=11,'' in Pippa Norris, Montague Kern, and Marion Just, eds., Framing Terrorism (London: Routledge, 2003), 262.
Ideological Partisanship and American Public Opinion toward Foreign Policy
  • Robert Y Shapiro
Robert Y. Shapiro and Yaeli Bloch-Elkon, ''Ideological Partisanship and American Public Opinion toward Foreign Policy,'' in Morton H. Halperin et al., eds., Power and Superpower (New York: Century Foundation Press, 2007), 49.