Terrorism and the Media (Paperback)

~ Brigitte Nacos (Author) "In Wall Street circles "Black Mondays," "Black Fridays," or other "Black" weekdays refer to stock market crashes and damage to their and other people's portfolios..." (more)
Key Phrases: domestic opinion leaders, terrorist spectaculars, golden triangle news, United States, White House, President Reagan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nacos's (The Press, Presidents, and Crises) modest study explores how the news media, public opinion and presidential decision-making in the U.S. have responded to major acts of anti-American terrorism during the past 15 years. With the exception of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the most dramatic terrorist strikes have been staged outside the U.S. against American citizens by what the author calls "Mid-Eastern groups." These include the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81, the ordeal of hostages in Lebanon in the '80s and early '90s and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103. Nacos's argument-that terrorists seek attention through news coverage, and that their propaganda successes have been enhanced by television-seems almost too obvious to need utterance; likewise her point that media coverage for terrorists is "merely the means to the more important end of affecting the general public and decision makers." Her conclusion seems to be that decision-makers need to better understand their vulnerability to media manipulation.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Nacos (political science, Columbia Univ.) is the author of The Press, Presidents, and Crisis (Columbia Univ. Pr., 1990). In this volume, she argues that terrorist organizations are sensitive to the impact of their violence on American public opinion and presidential decision-making. That sensitivity, according to Nacos, may explain the increasing incidence of international terrorism in the United States in general and the World Trade Center bombing in particular. is Scholarly and well written, her analysis will be informative for specialists on terrorism and on the media and for other informed readers.
William L. Waugh Jr., Georgia State Univ., Atlanta
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (June 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231100159
• ISBN-13: 978-0231100151
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,555,844 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting topic, January 31, 2001

By	Nazanine (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrorism and the Media (Hardcover)

This book is very helpful in determining how the US Media portrays terrorist activities and the countries those terrorists represent. A very helpful book for those studying racisim towards "terrorist nations" and how the USA (esepcially the media) views them and how that view effects the USA population.