Publication: While America Slept: Coverage of Terrorism from 1993 to September 11, 2001
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Date
2002
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Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
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Citation
Storin, Matthew V. "While America Slept: Coverage of Terrorism from 1993 to September 11, 2001." Shorenstein Center Working Paper Series 2002.7, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2002.
Abstract
So far as is known, the traumatic attacks of September 11, 2001, were not foreseen by U.S. intelligence services, and they certainly were not predicted in the media. Yes, some government commissions warned of terrorist attacks within American borders sometime in the future. But the events of 9/11 shocked virtually all Americans, including the President of the United States. So it is useful to consider whether American news outlets utterly failed to prepare the public for this trauma, or raised at least some flags of caution. To date, there has been almost no detailed study that could answer this question. This paper attempts to do so.