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Domestic Terrorism in the Canadian News Media: a Framing Analysis of Canadian- Connected Terrorism in 2013 Newspaper Articles

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Domestic Terrorism in the Canadian News Media: a Framing Analysis of Canadian- Connected Terrorism in 2013 Newspaper Articles Domestic Terrorism in the Canadian News Media: a Framing Analysis of Canadian- Connected Terrorism in 2013 Newspaper Articles by Sasha K. Campbell A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of the Arts in Sociology Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2015 © Sasha K. Campbell, 2015 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract Terrorism is one of the most politically and rhetorically significant issues shaping the world today, and a popular topic in the news media. Canada is no exception. Recently, the problem of domestic (or homegrown) terror has emerged as a complex and emotionally potent phenomenon, one seemingly on the rise. However, there is an absence of media scholarship investigating this issue from a Canadian perspective. This study examines the Canadian news media’s treatment of Canadian-connected terrorism. Central to the journalistic discourse are frames, which serve to define, assess, characterize, moralize, and contextualize terrorism for readers. Frames provide narratives for key aspects such as alleged suspects, arrests, plots, police activities, and legal/political responses. A qualitative framing analysis approach is employed to identify and discuss news framing of Canadian-connected terrorism via extensive inductive coding of 173 Canadian news articles from print and online media sources, spanning January 1st – December 31st, 2013. Recurrent frames are established using evidence from the articles and discussed in terms of the messages they send about the nature of domestic terrorism/terrorists, their usefulness for understanding terrorism as a multifaceted global problem, and, where feasible, theoretically informed explanations for the use of specific frames. Findings indicate that the Canadian news media favours terrorism as a topic, but does not provide particularly informative articles. The reasons for this discrepancy proved varied, complex, and intimately linked with the way the mainstream news media – and other powerful organizations – operate and interact. Keywords: terrorism in the news, domestic terrorism, Canadian terrorism, framing analysis, media analysis, Canadian media analysis iii Acknowledgements No project of this magnitude can be completed without the help of others. Friends who provided indispensable support during the creation of this thesis include Nick, for tech support, intellectual discussion, and A+ studybuddying; Cassie, for being an excellent roommate and friend (particularly when it came to accepting my nocturnal work schedule). My classmates Sheliah and Dunja offered great moral support, friendship, and understanding. The love and support of my sisters, Eryn and Rachell, my grandparents, Walter and Rose, and my mother, Kim, means the world to me. I have to give special credit to Kim Campbell, my fantastic mom and a brilliant scholar in her own right, for being a model of persistence against all odds, as well as my #1 intellectual sounding board. Last but not least, I need to thank Jason Rehkoph, my brother in spirit, for immense personal support and encouragement, as well as being my indispensable ‘readability guinea pig’. To my stellar academic committee, Lorne Dawson, Jennifer Schulenberg, and Daniel O’Connor: I would not be here without you. Dr. Dawson, I thank you for sharing your expertise on this topic, and for offering a levelheaded perspective on a phenomenon which features myriad hotly contested realities. Your understanding and patience during the research process was invaluable. Dr. Schulenberg, the degree of methodological sharpness that exists in this thesis is a credit to your help in planning out the details, and also to your rigorous and highly informative methods courses. Dr. O’Connor, the theorists and perspectives you introduced me to have enriched not only my analysis and discussion here, but my sociological knowledge base and approaches as a whole. My interactions with each of you during my undergrad were a large part of what motivated me to pursue graduate studies. This project could not be as it is without your careful guidance. iv This thesis is dedicated to everyone mentioned above, and to all researchers who seek to understand far-reaching, impactful global issues in a Canadian context. v Table of Contents AUTHOR'S DECLARATION ................................................................................................. ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Questions...................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Question and Research Objectives .................................................................. 5 1.3 Research Definitions ...................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Definitions of Terrorism ................................................................................................. 9 2.1.1. Government/Security Sources ............................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Academic Sources ................................................................................................. 12 2.2 The History of Terrorism ............................................................................................. 16 2.3 Contemporary Terrorism .............................................................................................. 23 2.3.1. Anarchist/Left-Wing Terrorism ............................................................................. 25 2.3.2. National Liberation and Ethnic Separatist/Anti-Colonialist Terrorism ................. 32 2.3.3.Religious (Islamist) Terrorism................................................................................ 36 2.4 Domestic Terrorism ...................................................................................................... 39 2.5 Domestic Terrorism in the Canadian Context .............................................................. 42 Chapter 3: Framing Analysis: a Methodological Review ....................................................... 50 3.1 What are Frames? .......................................................................................................... 51 3.2 How do Frames Work? ................................................................................................. 52 3.3 Why Frame Analysis? .................................................................................................. 56 3.4 What Sort of Frame Analysis? ..................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4: Analytical Practices and Analytical Tools ........................................................... 62 4.1 Analytical Practices: Rationale for Codes ..................................................................... 62 4.2 Analytical Practices: Building Frames .......................................................................... 63 4.3 Analytical Tools: MAXQDA ....................................................................................... 64 Chapter 5: Data Analysis: Findings and Discussion ............................................................... 66 vi 5.1 Framing Devices ........................................................................................................... 66 5.1.1 Repetition of Data .................................................................................................. 66 5.1.2 Repetition of Quotes .............................................................................................. 67 5.1.3 Privileging or Prioritizing of Certain Voices .......................................................... 68 5.2 Frames ........................................................................................................................... 72 5.2.1 Secrecy Regarding Terrorism is Appropriate/Acceptable ...................................... 73 5.2.2 Relevance of the Terror Suspect’s Personal History and Character ....................... 77 5.2.2.1 Sub-Frame: the Radical Next Door ................................................................. 82 5.2.2.2 Sub-Frame: the Time Bomb ............................................................................ 84 5.2.3 Charismatic Figures and Recruitment: Stronger Inroads than Self-Radicalization.85 5.2.4 (Conditional) Sympathy for the Moderate Muslim Community ............................ 88 5.2.5 Terrorism as a Religious (Islamic) Issue ..............................................................
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