Beyond Healthy Skepticism: Exploring German News Media Framing of Terrorism-Affiliated Women Returnees

Abstract

Various feminist contributions to Terrorism Studies provide insight into how the media rationalizes terrorism-affiliated women through framing, but the question of how newspapers frame women returnees remains scarcely explored. Through a semantic content analysis of 63 German news articles, supplemented by interviews with journalists, this article reveals how German news media framing fosters a skeptical attitude toward women returnees. This effect is further reinforced when accompanied by a portrayal of individual returnees as irresponsible mothers. In contrast to the treatment of terrorism-affiliated women in general, the framing of women returnees does not seek to rationalize their violence, but instead provides moral guidance regarding security responses.