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This article examines the role of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS's) beheading videos in the United Kingdom and the United States. These videos are highly illustrative demonstrations of the importance of visual imagery and visual media in contemporary warfare. By functioning as evidence in a political discourse constituting ISIS as an imminent, exceptional threat to the West, the videos have played an important role in the re-framing of the conflict in Iraq and Syria from a humanitarian crisis requiring a humanitarian response to a national security issue requiring a military response and intensified counterterrorism efforts. However, this article seeks to problematize the role and status of ISIS's beheadings in American and British security discourses by highlighting the depoliticizing aspects of reducing a complicated conflict to a fragmented visual icon. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for further attention to how the visibility of war, and the constitution of boundaries between which acts of violence are rendered visible and which are not, shape the political terrain in which decisions about war and peace are produced and legitimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Event datasets on political violence, which are comprised of coded collected news reports, have enjoyed a renaissance within the academic community. The inclusion of civilian fatalities within these datasets is a promising and welcomed advancement regarding the availability of data on one-sided violence. However, these datasets are often criticised due to their heavy reliance on media records, which may be tainted by biases. So far, little attention has been paid to the specific problems that arise in the coding procedure with respect to one-sided violence. This article addresses such difficulties by discussing particular challenges presented by media biases and by providing empirical evidence from coding one-sided violence. Furthermore, solutions and strategies are offered to the issues that could affect the coding process, including increased transparency, definition-adaptation, and the use of appropriate statistical models. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article takes its point of departure from the attempted assassination of Fulgencio Batista in March 1957. Using archival sources from Havana and Pinar del Río, newspaper accounts, memoirs and recorded sound, it argues that the acquisition of communications technologies such as the telegraph, telephone and radio in the early twentieth century transformed political practices. As the power of these media became increasingly evident, historical actors from all sides of the ideological spectrum came to rely on its capacities for persuasion. If historians have understood 1950s Cuba in terms of a narrative of polarization and conflict, I suggest that attention to technology underwrites an alternative narrative, attuned to transnational networks and with emphasis on shared political practices rather than radical ruptures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2009 post-election violence on the streets of Tehran was brought to world attention by the image production and distribution activities of Iranian citizens. This paper considers the communicative potential of these images as they are encountered by distant observers. Beginning with George Herbert Mead's concept of a generalised other that establishes the ground for intersubjective person formation and the moral basis of self–other relations, I build a critical framework for considering the limits and potentiality of self–other encounters in mediated contexts. Arguing that communication presupposes a shared cultural attitude to images, I explore the distinctive cultural frame and image-encounters that the Internet establishes for its users, before turning attention to the activity occurring on the other side of the screen. Setrag Manoukian has observed that in the 2009 Iranian situation the once distinct categories of action and mediation collapsed together; "everyone was acting and reporting" simultaneously. I shall examine the claims for a new reflexivity associated with this situation. Turning again to the perspective of the distant observer, I explore some of the constraints on the functioning of the Iranian images as communicative acts. In conclusion I briefly consider what work is required on the part of the viewer to build a context for empathetic regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the 2011 political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire due to the results of presidential elections held on November 28, 2011. A brief historical overview of the events is given, including the role of President in charge Laurent Gbagbo, the position of the alleged winner candidate Alassane Ouattara, and reports of the mass media on the conflict.

Several studies conducted after 9/11 found that American journalists have largely embraced the government's official frame of the “War on Terror.” Drawing from the claim of an ideological bond, this study investigates how American news media covered politically violent organizations that are not linked to Al Qaeda or the events of 9/11. More specifically, the article examines whether the media's inconsistent use of the word “terror” changed as a consequence of 9/11 by comparing the coverage of these organizations before and after 9/11. A quantitative content analysis of American media indicates that overall the coverage of political violence did not change after 9/11. Moreover, journalists remained vigilant about using the word “terror” when covering politically violent organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how a mainstream American newspaper (The New York Times) and an Indian counterpart (The Times of India) construct political violence within the American occupation of Iraq, and how they reconcile notions of democracy and occupation. For both newspapers, Saddam Hussein's execution is the reference point to guide news selection. Findings indicate some differences in the two papers' coverage, partly explained by the countries' military involvement in the conflict and their history with Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the beliefs and social legitimacy as important elements in the emergence, maintenance and evolution of political violence and the role of the media and building cultures of peace. In this dynamic of armed conflict and peace, the discourses are constructed by social groups such as the structural changes that society needs to develop a culture of peace, so that the media play an important role, and functioning as a of the main tools that the armed (or out of state law) used to broadcast the speeches prepared in the framework of psychological operations whose purpose is to legitimize the violence engaged in combating the opponent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo's use and ethics of political violence in his cinema. It argues the relevance of his work concerning the role of counter-violence in political struggle. His filmography has been categorized in three phases. The first is the anti-Nazi resistance phase seen in the film "Kapò," the second is the anti-colonial resistance represented in the film "La battaglia d'Algeri," and the third is the evolution of armed struggle in the film "Ogro."

The article presents an in-depth exploration into the social conditions and politics of Japan in 1968, noting the shifts in public perception and reaction to violence performed by the government. Several activist and dissident movements among students and citizens are described as case examples of a larger international social phenomena of the 1960s regarding political participation and cultural identification. Analysis is also given to the depiction and portrayal of political demonstrations and conflict between state actors and dissidents within the media of the nation.

This study examines the indirect effects of extensive negative political attack ads in the 2004 presidential election from a third-person effects perspective. Results of a survey using a probability sample of 496 college students indicate that these students believe attack ads harm others more than themselves. Moreover, the respondents tended to perceive attack ads in traditional media to have a greater harmful effect on self and others than attack ads on the Internet. Contingent factors that account for the magnitude of third-person effects include social distance and knowledge. Further, exposure to attack ads was found to be the strongest predictor of perceived harms of such ads on self and others, but only perceived harm on others is a significant predictor of support for restrictions on attack ads. The study contributes to research on the third-person effect by testing perceived harms of attack ads on self and others separately on likelihood to support restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The media play an important role for the political agenda. It is less clear, however, how strong the media impact is on political decisions. This article pursues a different approach from the one commonly used in the media–policy research tradition. Instead of focusing on the relationship between the content of the media agenda and the political agenda, it is argued here that from a broader policy perspective, media pressure on the incumbents is a more relevant variable. Media pressure is measured as media competition and media coverage. Furthermore, the article investigates the effect of media variables on budgetary decisions in different spending areas, and compares the relationships between media pressure and policy under various economic, political and institutional conditions. This allows the authors to investigate which factors hinder and promote media influence on policy. The units of analysis are the Danish municipalities, which are similar political units with different newspaper coverage. Coverage by local newspapers is intense in some municipalities, but absent in others. As expected, the authors find that in municipalities with intensive coverage from local newspapers, local politicians do feel a stronger media pressure. However, when it comes to budgetary decisions, almost no observable effects of media pressure are found, either generally or in favourable political, economic or institutional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between terror and its presentation in the media is examined. The process of presenting terror is characterized as a method of challenging, negotiating, and redrawing moral boundaries. On the one hand, examining the terror-media relationship in this fashion enables us to transcend issues involved in taking a stand regarding the contents of specific acts of terror: On the other hand, making a stand regarding the nature of terror requires a moral decision. Any such stand regarding the content of terror, in terms of its explanation and justification, is thus based on a moral agenda that can be deciphered from the way it is presented. I use the case of political assassinations and executions to illustrate this terror-media connection through the conceptualization of negotiating moral boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests those theories which maintain that a causal relationship exists between inputs of Western media and increased levels of sociopolitical violence in Third World nations. When the violence thesis is tested, the results run counter to structural theory and policy proposals from UNESCO's New World Information Order. Imported media have little or no connection to increased levels of violence in less developed countries. Furthermore, in the 24 nations sampled, increased press freedom is associated with decreased levels of violence, a result supporting liberal arguments regarding press freedom as a means for promoting political tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study on the characterization of acts of political violence or terrorism in the "Los Angeles Times," the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" newspapers from 1980 to 1985. Reason for undertaking the study; Categories into which the characterizations encountered in the study were dichotomized; Procedure used to select incidents included in the study from among entries in the newspaper indices; Difference existing in the ways media personnel, government officials and witnesses characterize acts of political violence.

The article focuses on the study that stresses the lower press criticism rate of government officials in Mexico as of the year 1951-1980. It mentions that the study aims to reflect the dimension of press freedom without government control by criticizing government officials, particularly the president. It states that Mexican newspapers has little evidence of attacking the government political issues which shows the good press-government relationship. It says that the Mexican government has the power to control the newsprints in Mexico but the study prove that when Mexico's situation becomes rough, the editors will become more critical of their operation.

Examines the role of media on political violence and terrorism. Criticism against journalists who sympathize with the criminal activities of terrorists; Alternative for legislative regulation over the reporting of terrorism and interviewing of terrorists.