News narratives about terrorism succeed by being soldered with fear and dramatic elements.

Evidence

Richard Cody knows that its success is dependent on how the pieces are soldered together, how the core material of a life story needs “key dramatic elements” introduced or accentuated. Tariq is a predictable entity, one of the “dangerous Islamic types” well known to media audiences. But the Doll is different, “one of us,” an Australian girl who appears to have turned, an “unknown terrorist.” Cody’s boss, Jerry Mendes, encourages him: “People want an exalting illusion, that’s what they want. Find that story, ginger it up with a few dashes of fear and nastiness, and you’ve got gold. True gold” (26–27). — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 363

Categorization

• QUESTION: The contrast between the predictable ‘dangerous Islamic type’ and the ordinary ‘unknown terrorist’ — this could be a precisely transferable lens for reading Changez and AC as respectively the familiar and unfamiliar terrorist figure.
• XREF: connects to: Outbidders weaponize fear narratives while discounting deferred peace benefits. — Cathy Gormley-Heenan and Roger Macginty, Ethnic Outbidding and Party…, 32; Media framed a humanitarian’s conviction as a web of terror uncovered.