Ahmad, J. (2020) Constructing the Islamic state : analysing the interplay between media and policy frames in the aftermath of the November 13th 2015 Paris attacks. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 13 (4). pp. 568-590. ISSN 1753-9153
Abstract
This article analyses the imagined threat posed by the Islamic State in the aftermath of the November 13th Paris attacks and during the build-up to the December 2nd 2015 House of Commons vote to extend U.K. airstrikes to Syria. Combining Political Communications and International Relations approaches to framing analysis, and focusing on Britain’s three main television news providers (BBC, ITV and Channel 4), it seeks to question (1) how the Islamic State is framed, (2) who shapes those frames, and (3) what consequences arise from adopting certain ways of seeing and speaking over others? The analysis identifies three competing frames (labelled here as the “(Para)Military”, the “Elusive” and the “Extremist” frames), and their main advocates, and shows how, ultimately, U.K. news media tend to support an “elite”-centred understanding of the threat, thus legitimising calls for extending airstrikes into Syria. In so doing, the article provides two contributions to knowledge: first, empirical, by generating substantive new insight into the way the Islamic State was portrayed in the days and weeks following the Paris attacks, and in particular who shapes those portrayals; and, second, conceptual, via its blending of Political Communications and International Relations approaches to framing and their consequences.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Critical Studies on Terrorism. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Framing; Islamic State; political possibility; television; terrorism; visual/verbal representation |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Journalism Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Oct 2020 08:02 |
Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2022 01:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/17539153.2020.1810987 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:166637 |