News Frames and National Security: Covering Big Brother (Communication, Society and Politics)

Did media coverage contribute to Americans' tendency to favor national security over civil liberties following the 9/11 attacks? How did news framing of terrorist threats support the expanding surveillance state revealed by Edward Snowden? Douglas M. McLeod and Dhavan V. Shah explore the power of news coverage to render targeted groups suspicious and to spur support for government surveillance. They argue that the tendency of journalists to frame stories around individual targets of surveillance - personifying the domestic threat - shapes citizens' judgments about tolerance and participation, leading them to limit the civil liberties of a range of groups under scrutiny and to support 'Big Brother'. Covering 'big Brother' Weaves Together Two Fundamental Concerns About Cotemporary Politics And Mass Media: (1) The Tension Between National Security And Civil Liberties That Was Thrust Center Stage By The War On Terror Following The 9/11 Attacks And Reemerged As A Defining Issue With Edward Snowden's Revelations About The Scope Of The Surveillance State, And (2) The Power Of Media To Render Targeted Groups Suspicious And Spur Support For Government Surveillance Powers. Doug Mcleod And Dhavan Shah Provide Models For Studying The Influence Of Media Content, Particularly How The Framing Of Media Coverage, Driven By Choices Journalists To Personify The News, Have Sweeping Implications For Public Willingness To Sacrifice Civil Liberties In The Interest Of Protecting National Security. Covering 'big Brother' Is A Seminal And Timely Text That Traces How News Production Shapes Citizens' Judgments About Tolerance And Participation, Written To Be Accessible To General Audiences But Rich With Details For Specialists-- Understanding Message Framing And Effects -- Framing Surveillance And The War On Terror -- Designing The Studies (with Lucy Atkinson, Seungahn Nah, And Hyunseo Hwang) -- Converging Cues And The Spread Of Activation (with Jaeho Cho And Homero Gil De Zuniga) -- Cognitive Complexity And Attitude Structure (with Hyunseo Hwang, Jaeho Cho, Seungahn Nah, And Nam-jin Lee) -- Security Concerns And Tolerance Judgments (with Heejo Keum And Hernando Rojas) -- Group Perceptions And Expressive Action (with Michael G. Schmierbach, Michael P. Boyle, And Cory L. Armstrong) -- Covering Big Brother -- Appendix A: Measurement Details For Arab Study -- Appendix B: Measurement Details For Response Latency -- Appendix C: Measurement Details For Activist Study: Closed-ended Responses -- Appendix D: Measurement Details For Activist Study: Open-ended Responses. Douglas M. Mcleod, University Of Wisconsin, Madison ; Dhavan V. Shah, University Of Wisconsin, Madison. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.