Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161331 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10708
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Can media coverage of a terrorist organization encourage their execution of further attacks? This paper analyzes the day-to-day news coverage of Al-Qaeda on US television since 9/11 and the group's terrorist strikes. To isolate causality, I use disaster deaths worldwide as an exogenous variation that crowds out Al-Qaeda coverage in an instrumental variable framework. The results suggest a positive and statistically powerful effect of CNN, NBC, CBS, and Fox News coverage on subsequent Al-Qaeda attacks. This result is robust to a battery of alternative estimations, extensions, and placebo regressions. One minute of Al-Qaeda coverage in a 30-minute news segment causes approximately one attack in the upcoming week, equivalent to 4.9 casualties, on average.
Subjects: 
Al-Qaeda
media attention
media effects
terrorism
9/11
JEL: 
C26
D74
F52
L82
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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