Brett A. Barnett







'Lone wolf' extremists and the US news media

In recent years, there has been an increase in acts perpetrated by US-based 'lone wolves', individuals who carry out an ideology's call to violence independent of a larger organisational structure. This paper explores the role news media content may play in motivating 'lone wolf' extremism, which the US Department of Homeland Security has called America's most dangerous domestic terrorism threat. Examining extremists' past use of, and influence by, US news media content provides a useful perspective from which media professionals, researchers and society can assess practices employed by all news organisations covering extremism

Keywords: US news media; lone wolves; extremism; domestic terrorism; journalistic practices; media ethics


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Note on the contributor

Brett A. Barnett is Associate Professor of Communication at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. He examines the rhetoric of hate groups and other extremists. His publications include the essay '20 years later: A look back at the Unabomber manifesto' and the book Untangling the web of hate: Are online 'hate sites' deserving of First Amendment protection?