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Performing Terror, communicating fear: Analysing terrorism as performance of violence

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mercy Ette

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Abstract

This study conceptualises terrorist acts as performance of violence. It concentrates on how Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lida'awati Wal Jihad. a transnational terrorist group commonly known as Boko Haram, stages dramatic spectacles to generate public fear and anxiety by deploying the news media to publicise its activities. Predicated on a conceptual framework consisting of performance theory, news media-terrorism nexus and newsworthiness, the study illustrates how terrorist groups and media organisations exploit each other's affordances to actualise tactical and strategic goals. The author asserts that terrorist groups command the attention and gaze of diverse audiences by generating newsworthy, conflictual, consequential and impactful contents for news organisations. The study concludes that Boko Haram's activities are illustrative of terrorism as the communication of symbolic messages through the performance of violence.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Ette Mercy

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Media, War & Conflict

Year: 2024

Pages: Epub ahead of print

Online publication date: 30/08/2024

Acceptance date: 12/07/2024

Date deposited: 13/09/2024

ISSN (print): 1750-6352

ISSN (electronic): 1750-6360

Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.

URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17506352241268709

DOI: 10.1177/17506352241268709

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