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Dependent Citizen Journalism and the Publicity of Terror

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09546553.2011.636464

1556-1836

Hayley Watson,

Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

Abstract This article seeks to provide results from an investigation into the impact of dependent citizen journalism on the publicity of terror. In the past, many academics have identified the importance of publicity to an act of terror drawing on the concept of "propaganda by deed." This article presents results of a study into the impact of a distinct form of journalism in the digital era, dependent citizen journalism, on the publicity of terror. The argument is put forth that dependent citizen journalism generates distinctive, additional publicity to a terrorist attack. The article seeks to show how this publicity differs and what negative consequences there are to the involvement of dependent citizen journalists in the reporting process. Keywords: citizen journalismdependent citizen journalismonline journalismpropaganda by deedpublicityterrorismuser generated content Acknowledgments The author thanks Professor Frank Furedi for his advice and guidance in completing the work entailed for this article. Notes Frank Furedi, Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown (London: Continuum Books, 2007). Martha Crenshaw, "The Psychology of Terrorism: An Agenda for the 21st Century," Political Psychology 21, no. 2, (2000): 406. Ibid. Ibid. Paul Wilkinson, "Three Questions on Terrorism," Government and Opposition 8, no. 3 (1973): 290–312. Ibid., 293. Alex P. Schmid, "Terrorism: Revised Academic Consensus Definition," 2009, available at http://knol.google.com/k/terrorism# (accessed 27 January 2011.). Ibid. Ibid. Wilkinson (see note 5 above). Schmid (see note 7 above). Wilkinson (see note 5 above), 293. Global Terrorism Database. 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Khan, "London bomber: Text in full," BBC, 2005, available at http://news.BBC.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4206800.stm (accessed 26 May 2010.). See note 51 above. P. Welsh, "Disaster Movies," The Guardian, 2007, available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jul/02/disastermovies (accessed 10 September 2010.). T. Bakker and C. Paterson, "The New Frontiers of Journalism: Citizen Participation in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands," in K. Brants and K. Voltmer, eds., Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Ethics (Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 183–199. M. Glaser, "Did London Bombings turn citizen journalists into citizen paparazzi?," The Online Journalism Review, 2005, available at http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050712glaser/ (accessed 23 June 2011.). S. Hermann, "Mumbai, Twitter and Live Updates," BBC, 2008, available at http://www.BBC.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2008/12/theres_been_discussion_see_eg.html (accessed 10 September 2010.). H. Watson, "No, it was not the Blackberry wot dunnit," Spiked, 12 August 2011, available at http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/10982/. Additional informationNotes on contributorsHayley WatsonHayley Watson is an associate partner with Trilateral Research and Consulting, LLP. This work was completed while she was a PhD student at the School of Social Policy, Sociology, and Social Research, University of Kent.