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Paper Abstract
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Objective: Media recommendations for the reporting of events where one person or
a small group kills multiple others in public settings have been developed recently
by suicide prevention experts. Evidence on the effects of reports that are compliant
or noncompliant with these recommendations is lacking.
Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial with n = 148 participants
who were randomly assigned to read newspaper articles (A) on acts of terrorism
assumed to be conducted by Islamist terrorists and not consistent with media
recommendations, (B) the same articles differing only in their compliance with
recommendations, or (C) articles of similar style that were about homicide.
Islamophobia as well as suicidal ideation, stress, and mood were measured before
reading the article (T1), immediately afterwards (T2), and one week later (T3).
The primary hypothesis was that there is an increase in islamophobia after
exposure to media portrayals not consistent with media recommendations.
Results: Compared to the control group, only participants reading media reports
that were not consistent with media recommendations showed a short-term
increase in islamophobia.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that reporting on terrorism that is not
consistent with media recommendations appears to increase islamophobia. In the
context of reporting on Islamist terrorism, consistency with recommendations
might help reduce negative attitudes toward Muslim minorities.
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Paper Citation
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Laido, Z., Till, B., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2020). Short-term effects of media reports on terrorism that are consistent vs. not consistent with media recommendations on mass shootings: A randomized controlled trial. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 50(5), 948-962. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12636.
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Paper URL
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https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12636
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