ABSTRACT

Kasperson and Kasperson (1996) analyze the phenomenon of social amplification and attenuation of risk from a sociological point of view. The framework posits that the media function as transmitters of risk information that was retrieved from various sources, such as scientists, agencies, eyewitnesses and governments. It integrates the general public as risk information receivers and adds a feedback loop throughwhich public response can influence the future communication activities of the sources. In the context of terror we can integrate the following question: ‘to what extend do the media, as elements of cultural and social factors in general, play a role in the social attenuation or amplification of risk perception concerning terrorist threats?’