Facetten von Sicherheit und Unsicherheit. Welches Bild von Terrorismus, Kriminalität und Katastrophen zeigen die Medien?.

Abstract

How do the media portray terrorism, crime, and catastrophes? Investigating this aspect of media reality, 12,000 articles and programmes of 13 media outlets (including television, the press, and the Internet) were studied over a period of 18 months. With regard to five different notions of security within the coverage, the results are as follows. (1) Significance: the coverage on terrorism, crime, and catastrophes constitute around 15 to 27 percent of the total media coverage; yet there are differences between the different media genres. Crime as a subject is reported on rather constantly, while key events seem more important to the coverage of terrorism and catastrophes. (2) Reference to issues: the overall coverage of terrorism and crime focuses on security activities, while reports on catastrophes focus on damages - again with differences between the diverse media genres. (3) Reference to time: the majority of the coverage focuses on current events, while past and future events are less important. (4) Reference to location: crime is portrayed as an issue close-to-home; catastrophes are in the distance; and terrorism seems to have come closer - this is a comprehensive find across all media genres under investigation. (5) Reference to actors: politics and politicians (among others) are nearly always depicted as responsible. In general, we demonstrate that a faceted coverage can be found with regards to subjects, media genres, and time. Yet, the patterns found do not allow for global statements about security coverage in the media.