ABSTRACT
Previous research (Haddon & Stald, 2009) reveals that news media pay considerable attention to stories on internet-related risks and children, especially those involving sex and aggression. With regard to the way news media portray ICT related risks, there are some indications of a moral panic framing (Burger & Koetsenruijter, 2008): News media tend to focus on youngsters, not only in the role of “victims” but also as “perpetrators” (e.g. in the case of “sexting”) and often refer to very severe consequences of online risks (e.g. those associated with suicide or suicidal attempts of the victim). Several factors can explain why mass media pay considerable attention to online risks and why they tend to portray the issue in a certain way, such as the external reality, the availability of (official) news sources, news selection processes (e.g. news values) and news construction practices. With regard to the potential effects of the amount of news media coverage on online risks, the agenda setting theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) suggests that the media determine what people think about. Issues that are high on the media agenda will also be high on the public’s agenda and consequently on policymakers’ agenda. The way the media frame the issue may have an impact on how people think about the issue, and on their knowledge, attitudes and actions with regard to a problem (de Vreese, 2005).
