So, what is terrorism? How editorial cartoons framed the Nairobi embassy terror attacks

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Periodical article

Title:	So, what is terrorism? How editorial cartoons framed the Nairobi embassy terror attacks
Author:	Mainye, Omanga Duncan
Year:	2011
Periodical:	Africa Media Review (ISSN 0258-4913)
Volume:	19
Issue:	1-2
Pages:	1-26
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	terrorism cartoons newspapers
Abstract:	Following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in the United States, terrorism has dominated international politics and media coverage globally. However, long before this attack, terrorism had invaded the social and political space and brought with it unique challenges to media practitioners. At the definitional level, terrorism is still a contested and ambiguous concept. This study examines how editorial cartoons in Kenya's two leading newspapers in the month of August framed the 7 August 1998 embassy attacks in Nairobi, considered a prelude to the more devastating 9/11 attacks. Specifically, a total of five cartoons were analysed that appeared in The Daily Nation, also called The Nation, and The Standard. Using the constructivist approach to framing, the study reveals that while these definitional issues continue to prevail, media frames reveal that a cultural and contextual understanding of terrorism exist both in alignment and opposition to the so-called official/international definitions. App., bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]