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News Frames and National Security

News Frames and National Security

News Frames and National Security

Covering Big Brother
Douglas M. McLeod, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dhavan V. Shah, University of Wisconsin, Madison
December 2014
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Adobe eBook Reader
9781316120958

    Did media coverage contribute to Americans’ tendency to favor national security over civil liberties following the 9/11 attacks? How did news framing of terrorist threats support the expanding surveillance state revealed by Edward Snowden? Douglas M. McLeod and Dhavan V. Shah explore the power of news coverage to render targeted groups suspicious and to spur support for government surveillance. They argue that the tendency of journalists to frame stories around individual targets of surveillance - personifying the domestic threat - shapes citizens’ judgments about tolerance and participation, leading them to limit the civil liberties of a range of groups under scrutiny and to support "Big Brother".

    • Focuses on government surveillance under the Patriot Act and the role of journalists in producing public support
    • Uses detailed theoretical review and empirical testing of the effects of news framing on audience thoughts and judgments

    Reviews & endorsements

    "This is an impressive collection of theories and empirical studies of framing effects in the important area of national security vs. civil liberties during the War on terror, it is theoretically sound and methodically rigorous … this volume is a comprehensive synthesis of the theoretical approaches and research studies surrounding training effects on national security and civil liberties issues. The unifying model can be applied to framing effects in other research domains."
    Weiwu Zhang, Communication Booknotes Quarterly

    See more reviews

    Product details

    December 2014
    Adobe eBook Reader
    9781316120958
    0 pages
    0kg
    28 b/w illus. 6 tables
    This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.

    Table of Contents

    • Part I. Conceptual Framework: Introduction: news, national security, and civil liberties
    • 1. Understanding message framing and effects
    • 2. Framing surveillance and the war on terror
    • Part II. Framing Effects Research:
    • 3. Designing the studies with Lucy Atkinson, Seungahn Nah and Hyunseo Hwang
    • 4. Converging cues and the spread of activation with Jaeho Cho and Homero Gil de Zuniga
    • 5. Cognitive complexity and attitude structure with Hyunseo Hwang, Jaeho Cho, Seungahn Nah and Nam-Jin Lee
    • 6. Security concerns and tolerance judgments with Heejo Keum and Hernando Rojas
    • 7. Group perceptions and expressive action with Michael G. Schmierbach, Michael P. Boyle and Cory L. Armstrong
    • Part III. Implications and Conclusions:
    • 8. Covering 'Big Brother'
    • Appendixes.
      Contributors
    • Lucy Atkinson, Seungahn Nah, Hyunseo Hwang, Jaeho Cho, Homero Gil de Zuniga, Nam-Jin Lee, Heejo Keum, Hernando Rojas, Michael G. Schmierbach, Michael P. Boyle, Cory L. Armstrong

    • Authors
    • Douglas M. McLeod , University of Wisconsin, Madison

      Douglas M. McLeod is the Evjue Centennial Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research centers on communication content and effects, focusing on social conflicts and the mass media as well as framing and priming effects on attitudes and behaviors.

    • Dhavan V. Shah , University of Wisconsin, Madison

      Dhavan V. Shah is the Louis A. and Mary E. Maier-Bascom Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he is Director of the Mass Communication Research Center. His work focuses on framing effects on social judgments, digital media influence on civic and political engagement, and the impact of health.