Describing Perceptions of Media Influence among Radicalized Individuals: The Case of Jihadists and Non-Violent Islamists. (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Baugut, Philip; Neumann, Katharina
• Is Part Of: Political communication. Volume 37:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 65
• Page End: 87
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: presumed media influence -- media perceptions -- radicalization -- propaganda; Communication -- Political aspects -- Periodicals; Communication in politics -- Periodicals; 306.205
• DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2019.1663323
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1058-4609

Abstract

Abstract : This study is the first to examine how Islamists in different phases of radicalization perceive media influence. Based on interviews with 34 Islamist prisoners and 9 former Islamists, we found that radicalized individuals perceived themselves as being immune to influence by the news media, which they generally perceived as being hostile. In contrast, they believed that the media had a relatively strong effect on the general public, on political and media elites, and on judges and prison officials. Strong third-person effects can thus be interpreted as a symptom within a larger syndrome of radicalization. According to participants, these perceptions of media influence were intertwined with their exposure to propaganda that blamed the media for the societal rejection of their ingroup. Future research should therefore investigate the use of strategic communications attacking the mainstream media as both a cause and consequence of individuals' media influence perceptions.