Fear, Sense of Unresponsiveness and Oppositional Reading: Terror in Media through the Eyes of Victims of Terrorism

Abstract

Acts of crime and violence spread to a wide range of people through the mainstream media and can affect those who are not direct victims of crime and violence. Unlike these actions, terrorist acts have emerged as a threat in a much broader social field, especially in recent years, in terms of their occurrence, frequency, and extent of spread. Various studies have argued that the coverage of these terrorist acts in media has given rise to the fear of terror attacks. This study examines the perception of individuals who were directly exposed to terrorism regarding the presentation of terrorism in the media. Research data was collected in 2018, in Ankara, which experienced multiple terrorist attacks. The findings of this research draw on in-depth interviews conducted with 20 people who were directly exposed to at least one terrorist attack in Ankara. The sample group was reached with the snowball sampling technique. The results of the research show that the frequency and the way news of terrorism was presented in the media led to a sense of unresponsiveness and normalization against terrorism, but this also triggers and reproduces fear of terror.

Keywords

• Terrorism
• victimization
• fear of terror
• sense of responsiveness
• media

Korku, Duyarsızlaşma ve Eleştirel Okuma: Terör Mağdurlarının Gözünden Medyada Terör

Abstract

Suç ve şiddet eylemleri, medya aracılığı ile çok geniş kitlelere ulaşmakta ve bu eylemler doğrudan mağduru olmayan kesimleri etkileyebilmektedir. Bu suç ve şiddet eylemlerinden farklı olarak terör eylemleri, özellikle son yıllarda tüm dünyada ortaya çıkış biçimi, sıklığı ve yayılma sahası itibari ile çok daha geniş bir toplumsal sahada tehdit unsuru olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu terör eylemlerinin medya içeriklerinde yer bulmasının yaşanan terör saldırılarına ilişkin korkuyu daha fazla artırdığı ve yaygınlaştırdığı çeşitli çalışmalarla desteklenmiştir. Bu çalışmada, teröre doğrudan maruz kalmış olan bireylerin terörle ilişkili medya içeriklerine ilişkin değerlendirmelerine yer verilmektedir. Araştırma verileri, birden çok bombalı terör saldırısının yaşandığı Ankara’da, 2018 yılında toplanmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında, daha önce en az bir bombalı terör saldırısına doğrudan maruz kalmış olan 20 kişi ile derinlemesine görüşme gerçekleştirilmiştir. Söz konusu örneklem grubuna kartopu örnekleme tekniği ile ulaşılmıştır. Araştırma sonuçları, teröre ilişkin haberlerin anaakım medyada verilme sıklık ve üslubunun söz konusu örneklem nezdinde, terör olaylarını normalleştirdiğini ve bireyleri terör olaylarına karşı duyarsızlaştığını ortaya çıkarmıştır. Aynı zamanda teröre ilişkin haber ve içeriklerin anaakım medya organlarında ve haber içeriklerinde sıklıkla işlenmesinin bireylerde duyarsızlaşma duygusundan farklı olarak terör korkusunu tetiklediğini ve bu korkuyu yeniden ürettiği sonucuna varılmıştır.

Keywords

• Terör mağduriyeti
• terör korkusu
• duyarsızlaşma
• medya

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