Old stereotypes, new media. The representation of female terrorists in alternative news media

Abstract

In the past two decades, the attention for terrorism in the news has exploded. But an omnipresent belief about terrorism brought by media, is that all terrorists are male, and women do not fit the terrorist profile. However, women have always been actively participating in terrorist groups across the world and a more accurate representation of female terrorists is therefore needed. This proposal is grounded in media and gender studies and will provide more insights into the representation of female terrorists in alternative news media. An extensive literature review and methodology resulted in a pre-tested analytical framework, providing the tools for future research on this topic. The expected outcomes will be further understanding the construction and definition of female terrorists in alternative news media compared to the coverage of mainstream media, which fills in an important gap in the existing literature on this topic.