Risk Communication: Media's Role in the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

This report examines the media coverage of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, analyzing how different media outlets presented the events and the impact on public opinion. The study draws upon several research papers that employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including surveys and content analysis. The findings reveal that media coverage significantly influenced public perception, with varying degrees of information provided by different companies. The research also explores the role of social media in shaping public interest and the relationship between media and terrorism. Limitations of the research include the lack of analysis on the impact of media clashes and the perspective of general public in shifting from regular media industry to social media platforms. The report highlights the importance of understanding risk communication strategies in the context of terrorism and media influence.

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1. Neelamalar, M., Chitra, P., & Darwin, A. (2009). The print media coverage of the
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks: A study on the coverage of leading Indian newspapers
and its impact on people. Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 1(6), 95.
The aim of this research paper is to enlighten the reader with the opinion of the public
towards the catastrophic act of 26/11 by terrorism group. The opinion of the people is
presented in the environment with the help of media coverage. The research paper makes use
of both qualitative as well as quantitative data in presenting the report. Survey method and
content analysis are the two practices used to assess information about the terrorism act. The
survey was conducted using random sampling strategy. Main finding of the analysis of this
paper was that different media companies presented the terrorist attack in different ways. The
general public opinion expressed that less information about the event to address and more
opinion of the journalist. It was also found out that the media coverage created hype in the
environment for the incident. The strength of given research paper is that it explains the ways
in which different media companies covered the news to provide complete details to the
public and the ways in which the information was understood by the public. However,
research limitation for the given article is that the paper did not address the impact of media
clashes in the environment on the interest of people as all companies present their views to
the public in different manner (Neelamalar, Chitra, & Darwin, 2009).
2. Narayana, U., & Kapur, P. (2010). Media, Public Attitude and Mumbai Terror of
26/11. Media Asia, 37(2), 95-102.
The aim of this research paper was to generate an idea about the influence of general
public through the news coverage by media companies in the given case of Mumbai terror
attacks. Hypothesis were used to work on the given research paper and revolve the
information around one idea only. The paper presented the use of both primary and secondary

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information in the environment; primary information was collected through survey and
secondary information was attained through books and journal articles. Random sampling
method was used to fill the answers of survey questions. Qualitative data was used in the
paper to justify the significance of hypothesis in the paper. The findings of the paper
evaluated that public opinion expressed that high coverage was given to this news which was
more than required. It also evaluated that the news mentioned to public plays a direct role in
attracting their interest for the terrorist event. The research limitation of given paper is that
survey participants were taken from one locality of India due to which response cannot be
assumed as fair response of the whole nation (Narayana, & Kapur, 2010).
3. Rodrigues, U. M. (2014). Social media's impact on journalism: a study of media's
coverage of anti-corruption protests in India. Global media journal: Australian
edition, 8(1), 1-10.
The aim of this research paper is to analyse the role and importance of social media in
covering the news and presenting it to the society at large. It explained that how social media
campaigns affected the interest of public and influenced the mainstream news coverage as
well. The paper analysed the use of secondary qualitative information in the environment for
the given case. The findings of the given research paper is that social media has become an
important part of the news media industry and people have started to get more influenced
with the information spread on social media than it is actually presented on other media
platforms. Also, the event gets better limelight with the use of social media movements for
the case. The strength of the research paper is that it significantly highlighted the ways in
which media companies can use social media to drive the interest of general public towards
the event occurred in the society. However, the research fails to explain the perspective of
general public in given case of shifting from regular media industry to social media platforms
(Rodrigues, 2014).

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4. Iqbal, M. Z. (2015). The media–terrorism symbiosis: A case study of Mumbai attacks,
2008. Asian Journal of Communication, 25(2), 197-212.
The aim of this research paper is to through light on the relationship of media industry
and terrorism event occurring the society. The paper also works to analyse the ways in
different platforms work in highlight one particular news in the society. The research paper
makes use of both qualitative and quantitative use of information through secondary research
only. The main findings of the given paper is that it works on the theme of awe and terror that
explains the ways in which the media coverage touch the instinct of public. Further, the paper
also derived the impact of threatening information on the interest of public and the ways in
which content helps the people in connecting with the terror attack. Lastly, the limitation of
the research is that it failed to address the different platforms apart from TV in attracting the
interest of people at the competence of such platforms over and above the TV segment (Iqbal,
2015).