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Unpacking cyberterrorism discourse: Specificity, status, and scale in news media constructions of threat

Lee Jarvis, Stuart Macdonald Orcid Logo, Andrew Whiting

European Journal of International Security, Volume: 2, Issue: 1, Pages: 64 - 87

Swansea University Author: Stuart Macdonald Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1017/eis.2016.14

Abstract

This article explores original empirical findings from a research project investigating representations of cyberterrorism in the international news media. Drawing on a sample of 535 items published by 31 outlets between 2008 and 2013, it focuses on four questions. First, how individuated a presence...

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Published in: European Journal of International Security
ISSN: 2057-5645
Published: 2017
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa28965
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Abstract: This article explores original empirical findings from a research project investigating representations of cyberterrorism in the international news media. Drawing on a sample of 535 items published by 31 outlets between 2008 and 2013, it focuses on four questions. First, how individuated a presence is cyberterrorism given within news media coverage? Second, how significant a threat is cyberterrorism deemed to pose? Third, how is the identity of ‘cyberterrorists’ portrayed? And, fourth, who or what is identified as the referent – that which is threatened – within this coverage? The article argues that constructions of specificity, status and scale play an important, yet hitherto under-explored, role within articulations of concern about the threat posed by cyberterrorism. Moreover, unpacking news coverage of cyberterrorism in this way leads to a more variegated picture than that of the vague and hyperbolic media discourse often identified by critics. The article concludes by pointing to several promising future research agendas to build on this work.
Keywords: Cyberterrorism; Discourse; Media; Construction; Threat
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issue: 1
Start Page: 64
End Page: 87

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