Yaeli Bloch-Elkon – författare

While we've long known that the strategies of terrorism rely heavily on media coverage of attacks, "Selling Fear" is the first detailed look at the role played by media in counterterrorism - and the ways that, in the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration manipulated coverage to maintain a climate of fear. Drawing on in-depth analysis of counterterrorism in the years after 9/11 - including the issuance of terror alerts and the decision to invade Iraq - the authors present a compelling case that the Bush administration hyped fear, while obscuring civil liberties abuses and concrete issues of preparedness. The media, meanwhile, largely abdicated its watchdog role, choosing to amplify the administration's message while downplaying issues that might have called the administration's statements and strategies into question. The book extends through Hurricane Katrina, and the more skeptical coverage that followed, then the first year of the Obama administration, when an increasingly partisan political environment presented the media, and the public, with new problems of reporting and interpretation."Selling Fear" is a hard-hitting analysis of the intertwined failures of government and media - and their costs to our nation.

While we've long known that the strategies of terrorism rely heavily on media coverage of attacks, "Selling Fear" is the first detailed look at the role played by media in counterterrorism - and the ways that, in the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration manipulated coverage to maintain a climate of fear. Drawing on in-depth analysis of counterterrorism in the years after 9/11 - including the issuance of terror alerts and the decision to invade Iraq - the authors present a compelling case that the Bush administration hyped fear, while obscuring civil liberties abuses and concrete issues of preparedness. The media, meanwhile, largely abdicated its watchdog role, choosing to amplify the administration's message while downplaying issues that might have called the administration's statements and strategies into question. The book extends through Hurricane Katrina, and the more skeptical coverage that followed, then the first year of the Obama administration, when an increasingly partisan political environment presented the media, and the public, with new problems of reporting and interpretation."Selling Fear" is a hard-hitting analysis of the intertwined failures of government and media - and their costs to our nation.

How did the United States descend into crisis, with institutions frayed, political violence mounting, and democracy itself in peril? This timely book identifies how the Tea Party and its extremist narratives laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump, his MAGA movement, and the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.Brigitte L. Nacos, Yaeli Bloch-Elkon, and Robert Y. Shapiro trace the escalation of a strain of extremist rhetoric in right-wing political discourse after the inauguration of Barack Obama. Drawing on extensive and in-depth analysis of political communication in both traditional media and online spaces, they demonstrate how the dominant rhetorical styles of the Trump era were pioneered by the Tea Party. A backlash to the election of the first Black president, this reactionary social movement deployed violent language and spread anti-Obama paranoia, with the assistance of media insiders, GOP leaders, and conservative advocacy groups. Donald Trump rose to political prominence by hitching himself to the “birther” racist conspiracy theory, espoused by many Tea Partiers, and drew from their aggressive and hyperpartisan repertoire. Ultimately, this book shows, the increasingly violent rhetoric of right-wing extremists spilled over into real-world political violence. Revealing the path the Tea Party blazed to Trump and the insurrectionists, Hate Speech and Political Violence provides timely new insights into the threats facing American democracy.