Polarization of society by the media

”Publicity is the oxygen of terrorism” - Margaret Thatcher

DIIS participates in the European research consortium, Transnational Terrorism, Security and the Rule of Law. We analyze the connections between the media’s coverage of terrorism and radicalization. Comparisons of these analyses will be made between a range of EU member states. Based on the findings, the aim is to present a collection of the best practices for counteracting the negative effects of the media on societal cohesion.

The consortium is supported financially by the EU Commission’s 6th Framework Programme for the period 2006-2009.

Terrorism and political violence fill increasingly more space in the media. They link together such concepts as “terrorism”, “Muslim”, “immigrant” and “criminality”. This can influence Muslims’ and non-Muslims’ perceptions of one another, which in turn can be important for:

The public’s perception of threat
The public’s attitudes toward Muslim minorities
The Muslim minority’s attitudes toward European societies

These perceptions are decisive for polarization in society. They contribute to the current radicalization, i.e. the scope and degree of violence of European al-Qaida-inspired terrorist groups.

We aim to study:

How the media influence the mutual perceptions of Muslim and non-Muslim groups in the population
How negative impact on societal cohesion can be eliminated or limited

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