Martha F. Lee

Women and Crisis Reporting Television News Coverage of Political Crises in the Caribbean

This article examines U.S. network television news coverage of seven political/military crises occurring in the Caribbean Basin. It first documents the extent to which women are involved in covering these crises. In line with existing research, women are found to be underrepresented in all major aspects of on-air media coverage. The article then explores the impact of this under representation on the actual content of media reporting. There is, at the very least, a possibility that those doing the reporting affect the content of the report, as well as who is chosen as a news source, either on-camera and/or quoted. The article examines this question using the technique of “paired comparisons”;specifically, it compares news stories dealing with four of the crises filed from the same location, on the same day, by male and female reporters representing at least two networks. The major finding of this research is that while there are subtle differences in the way in which male and female reporters frame stories, there is a broad consistency in male and female reporting. It is the case, however, that female anchors and reporters are slightly more likely to use female sources in their stories.

Violence and the environment: The case of ‘earth first!’

The radical environmental movement ‘Earth First!’ began in 1980. Its adherents predicted an imminent biological meltdown that would cause the destruction of one‐half to one‐third of the earths species, and significant areas of habitat. In response, they adopted a doctrine that emphasized both biodiversity and biocentric equality, and determined to protect the environment through both non‐violent direct action, and ‘monkeywrenching’, the destruction of private property. Over time, the movement split into two factions, one that focused on the relationship of environmental issues and social justice; its goal was public education, and it stressed the use of non‐violent direct action. The second faction argued that protecting the planets biodiversity was the most critical goal; it continued to stress that the planets biodiversity should be protected ‘by any means necessary’. Earth First!s doctrine and evolution illustrate in concentrated form the tendency of all environmental ideologies to incorporate mill...

American Millenarianism and Violence: Origins and Expression

Since the founding of the United States, millenarian movements have existed at both the center of U.S. political and religious life and at its margins. Indeed, scholars have noted their existence both as a part of the traditional American civic religion and as a critique of mainstream selfunderstanding (for example, in the Nation of Islam and in Christian Identity groups). Oft en, these movements have engaged in violence. Events such as the Branch Davidian tragedy in Waco, Texas, and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, underscore the importance of understanding the relationship between millenarian movements and violence in the American context. When, why, and how millenarian movements engage in violence are critical issues for American policymakers. Quantitative and long-range comparative information on them and their relationship to violence would therefore be useful. Academic studies of millenarianism, however, are primarily case studies; the nature of the topic—these movements are oft en small, scattered, short-lived, and difficult to access—makes comparative and quantitative analysis difficult. What follows is an initial attempt to examine millenarian movements and violence quantitatively. We examine millennial movements in the United States during a limited time period—from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century—to gauge whether any common religious, political, and social factors are correlated with violence. We also examine whether religious or political movements are more likely to engage in violence. Th e limited nature of the data set allows us to determine general trends that help to illuminate the relationship of millenarianism and violence.

Framing the ‘White Widow’: Using intersectionality to uncover complex representations of female terrorism in news media

Following 21 September 2013, news media in the UK offered extensive and elaborate coverage of the Westgate Mall Massacre in Nairobi, Kenya. This act of terrorism, perpetrated by Al-Shabaab, left over 60 people dead. What news media considered particularly captivating was not the devastation of the attack, but the suspected involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite. She remained at the center of news media in Britain for several months after the attack, dubbed the ‘White Widow’. In this article, the authors employ an intersectional approach to explore the ways that race, religion, nationality, age, class, and gender converge in mediated representations of Lewthwaite. They argue that the application of intersectionality results in a more holistic understanding of the content and discursive impact of news narratives about female terrorists and find that news media both vilify and normalize Lewthwaite, representing her participation in terrorism through complex constellations of identity.