Media, terrorism, and emotionality:: Emotional differences in media content and public reactions to the September 11th terrorist attacks

Research on print and broadcast media shows differences in cognitive and affective responses. We extend that research by combining content analysis and survey methods to examine medium differences in the emotional tone of coverage concerning the September 11 terrorist attacks, and audience differences in emotional reactions to the attacks. A computer-aided content analysis of national television and newspaper transcripts demonstrates that television news was consistently more emotional than print news. Further, a panel survey found use of television news was more strongly related to positive and negative emotional responses to the attacks than use of newspapers.