Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This study conceptualizes terrorist acts as performance of violence. It concentrates on how Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lida’awati Wal Jihad, a transnational terrorist group commonly known as Boko Haram, stages dramatic spectacles to generate public fear and anxiety by deploying the news media to publicize its activities. Predicated on a conceptual framework consisting of performance theory, news media–terrorism nexus and newsworthiness, the study illustrates how terrorist groups and media organizations exploit each other’s affordances to actualize tactical and strategic goals. The author asserts that terrorist groups command the attention and gaze of diverse audiences by generating newsworthy, conflictual, consequential and impactful contents for news organizations. The study concludes that Boko Haram’s activities are illustrative of terrorism as the communication of symbolic messages through the performance of violence.
Source: Media War & Conflict
Author: Mercy Ette
Institutions: University of Leeds, Newcastle University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
Funders: Newcastle University, University of Leeds
OpenAlex ID: W4402058673