Gabriel Weimann

THE INFLUENTIALS: BACK TO THE CONCEPT OF OPINION LEADERS?

The concept of opinion leadership has been related to a lingering theoretical and methodological debate. The present study examines a new measure to identify opinion leaders (the Strength of Personality Scale) developed by the Allensbach Sur- vey Center in Germany. The results of applying this measure in Germany and Israel allowed the testing of its validity and effi- ciency. The findings, however, do not suggest that the influentials identified by this scale are opinion leaders according to the origi- nal conceptualization, but fit better the more sophisticated char- acterization of opinion leadership that stemmed from modifica- tions of the original concept of opinion leaders.

Cultivation revisited: Some genres have some effects on some viewers

This study aims to explore the effects of TV viewing on the cultivation of fear and interpersonal trust among Israeli youth, and to make methodological and theoretical contributions to the study of cultivation. Besides testing cultivation theory using an Israeli sample, the present study focuses on the effects of different genres on attitudes in different sub‐populations. Results show that for each demographic group, moderate but significant cultivation effects were associated with the genres favored by that group. Examples of high‐risk as well as low‐risk viewers are identified and discussed.

Who Sets the Agenda Agenda-Setting as a Two-Step Flow

This study examines four models of a two-step flow of the agenda-setting process, highlighting the role played by certain individuals (early recognizers) in mediating between the public and the media. The data sets contained coding of news items on the major German television networks from 1990 to 1993 and 28 surveys conducted in West and East Germany between September 1990 and December 1992, sampling over 1,000 individuals in each survey to study the public agenda. The findings highlight the role of early recognizers, not only in identifying emerging issues in the media and diffusing them among the public but also in affecting the media agenda. The studys important contribution lies in identifying the flow of issues from the public to the media and within the public, thus reviving, to some extent, the notion of the two-step flow of communication.

The strength of weak conversational ties in the flow of information and influence

Abstract The “Strength of Weak Ties” theory is used to analyze the flow of information and influence in the network of conversational ties in a kibbutz community. The flow of six information items and two decision-making items was measured by indicators of communicative efficiency — speed, accuracy and credibility. The strength of ties activated and the direction of the flow (within groups or between groups) was analyzed. The findings reveal the actual, everyday functioning of weak ties as inter-group bridges, confirming the “Strength of Weak Ties” claim. The communicative advantages of weak ties are examined, applying structural analysis methods. The tendency of weak ties towards intransitivity and low multiplexity, is suggested to account for their frequent activation as inter-group bridges. The findings highlight the potential of social network analysis as a bridge between micro-level interaction and macro-level patterns including diffusion of innovation, formation of public opinion and social solidarity. Weak ties serve as the crucial paths between groups, thus providing the means by which individual behavior and ideas, originating in small face-to-face groups, are routinized and agglomerated into large-scale patterns.

The Psychology of Mass-Mediated Terrorism

The growing use and manipulation of modern communications by terrorist organizations have led communication and terrorism scholars to reconceptualize modern terrorism within the framework of symbolic communication theory. Some applied the theater-of-terror metaphor to examine modern terrorism as an attempt to communicate messages through the use of orchestrated violence. This article examines the psychological importance of the mass media for modern terrorism, the media tactics of terrorists, and the challenges they present to media organizations and governments. Special attention is given to the use of the Internet by modern terrorists and the rhetoric of terrorist Web sites based on 8-year-long monitoring of terrorist presence on the Internet and the analysis of more than 5,000 terrorist Web sites. Finally, the article concludes with various responses of modern democratic societies to the challenge poised by media-oriented and media-savvy terrorists.

The theater of terror : The psychology of terrorism and the mass media

Summary Modern terrorists became aware of the new opportunities for exerting mass psychological impact using the latest means of mass communications. Academic observers remarked increasingly on the theater-like nature of terrorist operations. According to this notion, modern terrorism can be understood in terms of the production requirements of theatrical engagements. Several terrorist organizations realized the potentials of media-oriented terror, in terms of effectively reaching huge audiences. This article examines the strategies and tactics of this new pattern of media-oriented terrorism and their impact on the audiences who, through the medias mediation, join the widening circles of victims of terrorism.

Virtual Disputes: The Use of the Internet for Terrorist Debates

Terrorists are using the Internet for various purposes. Most of the attempts to monitor and study terrorist presence on the Net focused on the practical and communicative uses of this channel by modern terrorists. Yet, not much attention has been paid to the use of the Net as a medium for terrorist debates and disputes. This descriptive article presents this less noticed facet of terrorism on the Net by providing examples of virtual debates among and within terrorist groups. The analysis of the online controversies, disputes, and debates may say a lot about the mindsets of terrorists, their motivations, their doubts and fears. In many ways, it allows the researcher to open a window to a world about which so little is known. It may also serve counterterrorism: by learning the inner cleavages and debates one can find practical ways to support the voices against terror, to broaden gaps within these dangerous communities, and to channel the discourse to nonviolent forms of action.

The Newsworthiness of International Terrorism

The emergence of media-oriented terrorism has led scholars of modern terrorism to reconceptualize this phenomenon within the framework of symbolic communication theory. This study focuses on the newsworthiness of international terrorism. It relates the concept of deviance as a predictor of newsworthiness to the specific attributes of terrorist events and their impact on media selection (coverage or no coverage) and prominence of coverage (amount of space or time and location). The RAND Corporation chronology of international terrorism (1968-1980) and the coverage given to each terrorist event in the three American television networks and nine newspapers from various countries serve as the data base. By means of multivariate analysis, the effects of various attributes of terrorist events on media selection and coverage are examined. In general, the level of victimization, the type of action, the identity of the perpetrators, and an attributable responsibility were found to be the best predictors of media coverage. However, the effect of attributes on coverage varied from selection to prominence, thus suggesting a two-step process of selection in which different considerations affect each step. The impact of the various attributes was found to change over time. These findings suggest that the process of news selection is more complex than a simple relationship between attributes of events and coverage. In the case of terrorism, deviance as newsworthiness can be regarded as the guiding principle of coverage.

Media events: The case of international terrorism

Media‐oriented terrorism has stirred growing interest in the communication strategy of modern terrorism and in the quantity, forms, and consequences of media coverage of terrorist events. One limitation of previous analyses is the lack of a theoretical framework to pinpoint the uniqueness of terrorism as media drama, and the commonalities with other kinds of media drama. A theoretical media‐event framework is proposed. The attributes, social processes, and impact of media events are compared with these same factors in terrorist events. The representative case selected to illustrate terrorist events is the June 1985 TWA airliner hijacking.

Cable Comes to the Holy Land: The Impact of Cable TV on Israeli Viewers.

The present study provides evidence of the many facets of a rapid change in media environment. Due to the unique circumstances of introducing cable television in Israel, the short‐term effects of the new medium could be monitored and measured. Using a before‐after research design, comparing cabled samples with matched samples unreached yet by cable, the effects of cable TV on the Israelis could be assessed. The findings highlight the changes on the behavioral, cognitive and even affective dimensions. It appears that within a year of introducing cable the Israelis experienced a significant change in their consumption of television, in their feelings towards the medium, in the social context of viewing, and in related aspects of leisure activities. Though some of the early, dramatic changes were clearly the result of the rapid transition that caused a temporal “cultural shock”;, the change in certain patterns of viewing and attitudes remained stable even after a year. Finally, the present study joins other ...