Global media lets distant moral outrage fuse with personal frustration into martyrdom

Evidence

For the first time in history, a massive, media-driven political awakening has been occurring, spurred by the advent of the Internet, social media, and cable television: on the one hand, this may motivate universal respect for human rights; on the other hand, it may enable, say, Muslims from Sulawesi to sacrifice themselves for Palestine, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, or Syria. When perceived global injustice resonates with frustrated personal aspirations, moral outrage gives universal meaning and provides the push to radicalization and violent action. — Scott Atran, The Devoted Actor, 64

Categorization

• QUESTION: Directly relevant: does this manufactured-outrage dynamic hold only while the external grievance persists, or does the group regenerate a new distant cause once one fades?
• XREF: connects to: Media manufactured moral outrage primes audiences to endorse intervention — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race…, 816; Media harm comes from moral glamorization of violence, not reality confusion; Media-cultivated outrage at Islam’s oppression redirects anger away from U.S. responsibility (+2 more)

Related

• Media manufactured moral outrage primes audiences to endorse intervention (similarity 0.86)
• Media-cultivated outrage at Islam’s oppression of women justifies US military intervention. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Media-cultivated outrage at Islam’s oppression redirects anger away from U.S. responsibility #expands (0.88)
• Media manufactured moral outrage primes audiences to endorse intervention #expands (0.85) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 816
• Moral outrage about Muslim injustice can shade into endorsing Western intervention. #expands (0.85)
• Media harm comes from moral glamorization of violence, not reality confusion #expands (0.78)
• Media coverage cultivates scripted outrage at Muslim women’s suffering #expands (0.75)