Table Of ContentGLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN
MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
A PALGRAVE AND IAMCR SERIES
Media and the
Dissemination of Fear
Pandemics, Wars and Political Intimidation
Edited by
Nelson Ribeiro · Christian Schwarzenegger
IAMCR
AIECS
AIERI
Global Transformations in Media and
Communication Research - A Palgrave and IAMCR
Series
Series Editors
Marjan de Bruin
Chair Technical Working Group Equity, Diversity and
Inclusion
The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus
Kingston, Jamaica
Claudia Padovani
Department of Politics, Law and International Studies
University of Padova
Padova, Italy
The International Association for Media and Communications Research
(IAMCR) has been, for over 50 years, a focal point and unique platform
for academic debate and discussion on a variety of topics and issues gener-
ated by its many thematic Sections and Working groups (see http://iamcr.
org/). This series specifically links to the intellectual capital of the IAMCR
and offers more systematic and comprehensive opportunities for the pub-
lication of key research and debates. It provides a forum for collective
knowledge production and exchange through trans-disciplinary contribu-
tions. In the current phase of globalizing processes and increasing interac-
tions, the series provides a space to rethink those very categories of space
and place, time and geography through which communication studies has
evolved, thus contributing to identifying and refining concepts, theories
and methods with which to explore the diverse realities of communication
in a changing world. Its central aim is to provide a platform for knowledge
exchange from different geo-cultural contexts. Books in the series contrib-
ute diverse and plural perspectives on communication developments
including from outside the Anglo-speaking world which is much needed
in today’s globalized world in order to make sense of the complexities and
intercultural challenges communication studies are facing.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15018
Nelson Ribeiro • Christian Schwarzenegger
Editors
Media and the
Dissemination of Fear
Pandemics, Wars and Political Intimidation
Editors
Nelson Ribeiro Christian Schwarzenegger
School of Human Sciences Department of Media, Knowledge
Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Communication
Lisbon, Portugal University of Augsburg
Augsburg, Germany
ISSN 2634-5978 ISSN 2634-5986 (electronic)
Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and
IAMCR Series
ISBN 978-3-030-84988-7 ISBN 978-3-030-84989-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84989-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: Paul Gilligan / Getty Images
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Praise for Media and the Dissemination of Fear
“The collection edited by Ribeiro and Schwarzenegger clearly shows how a his-
torical perspective on media and communication fears is timely and relevant. With
the diachronic, intermedia and transcultural perspectives collected in this volume,
editors and authors show the persistence and continuity of how media were and
are used to disseminate, counter or simply feast on fear. For everyone interested in
the longer history of what is nowadays discussed as affective publics, hate speech,
populism and fake news this is a must read.”
—Gabriele Balbi, Associate Professor in Media Studies,
Università della Svizzera italiana
C
ontents
1 Introduction: Media and Fear—Diachronic, Intermedia,
and Transcultural Perspectives on a Toxic and Functional
Relationship during Pandemics, Wars, and Political Crises 1
Nelson Ribeiro and Christian Schwarzenegger
Part I Disseminating and Mitigating Fear During Pandemics
and Disasters 17
2 From Black Death to COVID-19: The Mediated
Dissemination of Fear in Pandemic Times 19
Anna Wagner and Doreen Reifegerste
3 Hebrew Popular Press, Catastrophe Stories, and the
Instigation of Fear in Ottoman Palestine 43
Ouzi Elyada
vii
viii CONTENTS
Part II Spreading Fear Across Borders: Journalism and
Alternative Media 59
4 Fear-Relations: Word War I, Military Authorities, and the
International Feminist Peace Movement 61
Susanne Kinnebrock
5 Voices for a World In-Between? Exile Media as
Transnational Fulcrums Between Confidence and Fear 83
Christian Schwarzenegger and Gabriele Falböck
6 Terror, Fear, Disbelief, and Complacency in the Face of
Evil: The Reactions of the Hebrew Press in Palestine to
the First News on the Extermination of the European
Jewry by the Nazis in 1942 107
Gideon Kouts
7 The News Media and the Ever-Present Fear in the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 129
Thomas Birkner, Aysha Agbarya, Oren Meyers, and Rachel
Somerstein
Part III State-Sponsored Fear and Intimidation 153
8 Fear of the Spanish Red Danger: Anti- Communist
Agitation and Mobilisation in Portugal during the
Spanish Civil War 155
Alberto Pena-Rodríguez
9 Nazi Broadcasts to a Neutral Country: Disseminating
Fear in Portugal during the Second World War 177
Nelson Ribeiro
CONTENTS ix
10 Fear of Communism in the Twentieth- Century United
States and the Vietnam War 199
Paul Haridakis
11 “Beware of Terrorists, Spies and Chaos!”: Stabilization
Techniques from the Arab Uprisings 221
Hanan Badr
12 Educate Online Through Online Fear: Exploring the
Chinese Rumours Online Phenomenon 247
Gianluigi Negro
13 Media Logic, Terrorism, and the Politics of Fear 275
David L. Altheide
Index 301
n C
otes on ontributors
Aysha Agbarya is a PhD student at the Department of Communication
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She holds a Master’s and a
Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Haifa University, as well as
professional experience in journalism. She is also a teacher in the commu-
nication department at the Open University and a social activist.
Her research interests include media use in everyday life, identity and
de-westernization of communication theories. Her current research
focuses on the relations between social media use and identity.
David L. Altheide is Regents’ Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of
Justice and Social Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at
Arizona State University, where he taught for 37 years. His work has
focused on the role of mass media and information technology in social
control. His most recent books are Terrorism and the Politics of Fear (2nd
Edition, 2017) and The Media Syndrome (2016). His awards from the
SSSI include the Cooley Award for Outstanding Book (three times), the
George Herbert Mead Award for lifetime contributions and the Mentor
Achievement Award. A forthcoming book is Gonzo Governance: The Media
Logic of Donald Trump.
Hanan Badr, DPhil is an associate professor at the Gulf University for
Science and Technology (GUST) in Kuwait. She held positions at Freie
Universität Berlin, Cairo University and Orient-Institut Beirut/Max
Weber Foundation. Hanan won awards including the Kluge Fellowship at
the Library of Congress, DAAD Doctoral Scholarship and is currently
vice-chair of the Activism, Communication and Social Change Interest
xi
