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A Matter of Faith: U.S. Cable News Coverage and Definitions of Terrorism

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A Matter of Faith: U.S. Cable News Coverage and Definitions of Terrorism Syracuse University SURFACE S.I. Newhouse School of Public Media Studies - Theses Communications 5-2013 A Matter of Faith: U.S. Cable News Coverage and Definitions of Terrorism Adam Yehia Elrashidi Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/ms_thesis Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Elrashidi, Adam Yehia, "A Matter of Faith: U.S. Cable News Coverage and Definitions of errT orism" (2013). Media Studies - Theses. 12. https://surface.syr.edu/ms_thesis/12 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Media Studies - Theses by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT What makes an act of violence an act of terrorism? This qualitative study examines the ways in which three U.S.-based cable news networks—MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News—reported and contextualized four violent events within frameworks of terrorism: the mass shooting at Ft. Hood near Killeen, Texas (2009); the mass shooting near Tucson, Arizona (2011); a suicidal plane crash into an IRS building in Austin, Texas (2010); and the attempted bombing of the Federal Reserve in New York, New York (2012). Although details between these four events seem analogous, the three networks appeared to contextualize only the Ft. Hood rampage and the Federal Reserve plot within frameworks of terrorism (specifically, Islamic terrorism)—as being “attacks” on the United States rather than isolated incidents. In contrast, the networks appeared to contextualize the Tucson rampage and Austin plane crash as being the consequences of extreme mental illness. Existing literature suggests such disparities in coverage are the result of increasing consolidation and corporatization of news and entertainment media organizations, as well as pre-existing Orientalist portrayals of Arabs and misconceptions held by the American public about Islam and Muslims as both a minority and a religious group. Combined with standard journalism guidelines and suggestions for optimal practice during crisis coverage, this literature was used to establish a coherent code structure to analyze the four events. The code structure was used to review a total of 35 video clips from the aforementioned networks, making note of these references or topics of discussion: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; the mental state of the perpetrator; the alleged religious or political affiliation of the suspected perpetrator; and any mention of Al-Qaeda or terms such as “terrorist,” “jihad,” “infidel,” or “radical Islam.” Although any discussion about news coverage of minorities is nuanced and merits further research, the results of this study indicate there is still much news organizations fail to understand about Islam, Muslims, the Muslim-American identity and the supposed relationship between those entities and “terrorism” or the root causes of its occurrence. Further, it indicates that news organizations experience a degree of cognitive dissonance when non-Muslims (or individuals affiliated with the dominant hegemonic culture) commit terrorism-like violence. A Matter of Faith: U.S. cable news coverage and definitions of terrorism Adam Y. Elrashidi This Thesis submitted in partial requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Media Studies Media Studies S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications Syracuse University May 2013 Copyright © 2013 Adam Y. Elrashidi All rights reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ا ا ا (In the name of Allah The Beneficent, The Merciful) First and foremost, thanks to my amazing parents for their love and support. I will never be able to thank you enough for everything you give to me. I am honored and proud to be your son. I love you, more than you’ll ever know, and I hope you will consider this work to be among the best fruits of your labors. Also, thanks to my wonderful siblings, Muhamad and Halla—I love you both very, very much. To the Khater family—Mohamed, Magda, Hesham, Ashraf, and Ahmed—and Hammam Al-Makadma: Thank you for being my family away from family and taking me into your home. May you be blessed for all the good works you do for Syracuse. I grew as a person and learned so much simply by being around all of you. Thank you to Jonathan Maze, Josh Bitney, and Taqee Khaled for your letters of recommendation. Also, to Muneer Karcher-Ramos: Thanks for the sagely advice about personal statements and the nature of graduate school. To my cohort and friends—my Adamaniacs: Thanks for always welcoming me home with open arms; two thumbs up to ‘Tron and Air. And a special thank you to Hannah Nemec: Your strength, courage, heart, and friendship have been blessings to my life. I couldn’t have achieved so much of this without them—or you. Thanks to my thesis committee: Richard Breyer, Courtney Barclay, Dennis Kinsey, and Terry Anderson. I appreciate the time you dedicated toward helping me complete this thesis. I hope you are as pleased with it as I am. Thanks to Carla Lloyd and Sean Branagan: It was a great privilege to have been an assistant to you both. You each taught me so much about bravery and leadership. Thanks to Kristen Northrop for two years of great conversations. Thanks to Amy Arends for ensuring my bases were always covered. In addition, thanks to Mylinda Smith, Pamela Shoemaker, Sharon Hollenback, Donna Till, Mary Ann Durantini, Christi MacClurg, Stanley Bondy, Phil Johnson, Christopher Dietrich, Bob Lloyd, Michael Schoonmaker, Bob Thompson, Brian Tibbens, Hub Brown, Kelly Barrows, and Brad Gorham for helping me navigate Newhouse and for pointing me in the right directions. Finally, to Carol Liebler: Thank you for saying “yes,” when all I had heard in my professional career for three years was “no.” I hope I’ve followed through on the promise I made during orientation to make you proud of the decision to accept me into the Media Studies program. To summarize the intention with which I pursued a career in journalism and produced this thesis, I’ll conclude with a quote from one of my heroes, Malcolm X: “I do believe that I have fought the best that I know how, and the best that I could, with the shortcomings that I have had…And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth…then all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi A Matter of Faith: U.S. cable news coverage and definitions of terrorism Chapter I: Introduction .........................................................................................................7 Chapter II: Literature Review ............................................................................................15 Chapter III: Method ...........................................................................................................50 Chapter IV: Findings..........................................................................................................54 Chapter V: Discussion .....................................................................................................105 Appendix A: Andrew Joseph Stack III’s Suicide Note ....................................................................120 References ........................................................................................................................126 Vita ...................................................................................................................................137 vi CHAPTER I Introduction On November 5, 2009, United States Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire on his fellow soldiers stationed at Ft. Hood near Killeen, Texas; he killed 13 people and wounded numerous others. At the start of his rampage, Hasan reportedly yelled, “Allahu akbar,” which means, “God is Great” in Arabic—a phrase said by Muslims around the world countless times every day. On January 8, 2011, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner opened fired on attendees at a rally for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona. The rampage injured 14 people, including Giffords, and killed six, including District Court Chief Judge John Roll. On February 18, 2010, Andrew Joseph Stack III crashed his single-engine Piper Dakota airplane into an Internal Revenue Service office building in Austin, Texas, killing himself and office manager Vernon Hunter and injuring at least a dozen people. Finally, on October 17, 2012, 21-year-old international student Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was arrested in a federal sting operation for attempting to detonate a fake bomb outside the Federal Reserve in New York, New York. In each case, the perpetrator had previously expressed some degree of frustration with or contempt for the United States or its foreign or socio-economic policies. However, it appeared as though cable news media contextualized the Ft. Hood rampage and Federal Reserve bomb plot within frameworks of terrorism—as being “attacks” by foreign entities on the United States. What are the reasons behind such disparities in news coverage? On the surface, it
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