Where are the women? Gender bias in media coverage of American extremists
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17816366 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel Yon (Military Medical Academy), Kristina Hummel (Military Medical Academy), Daniel Milton (0000-0002-9916-7964, Brigham Young University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-19 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1943-4480 • E-ISSN: 1943-4472 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19434472.2026.2665151 |
| OpenAlex | W7160317325 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
How does gender impact the amount of media coverage individual extremists receive? In criminology and terrorism studies, a large body of research has shown that women are viewed differently when it comes to crime and terrorism. Yet, these insights have not led to an examination of the question of gender and the amount of media coverage as it applies to extremism. This article remedies this by presenting and testing an argument regarding the impact of gender on media coverage of extremists using newly collected data of media attention given to individual extremists in the United States from 2001 to 2021. The results show that women extremists are given less media coverage than men, even when controlling for other factors. Media organizations need to ensure that they are providing consistent coverage to all aspects of the issue of extremism and terrorism to ensure the public is well informed about the overall threat.
Gender bias · Gender identity · Media bias · Media coverage · Social media · Terrorism · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Best-Practice Recommendations for Defining, Identifying, and Handling Outliers
Why Do Some Terrorist Attacks Receive More Media Attention Than Others?
The Media’s Coverage of Domestic Terrorism
Hard and soft news
Gender Differences in Political Media Coverage
How Perpetrator Identity (Sometimes) Influences Media Framing Attacks as “Terrorism” or “Mental Illness”
Gender and Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism in the United States
Simply Small Men? Examining Differences Between Females and Males Radicalized in the United States
Introduction
Bombshell
Female Terrorism
The Hidden Face of Terrorism
Making women terrorists into “Jihadi brides”
Framing the ‘White Widow’
Gender in Crime News
Muriel’s wedding
Examining the Outcome of Investigations and Prosecutions of Extremism in the United States
Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism
The Portrayal of Female Terrorists in the Media
The New Era of Media and Terrorism
Biased Coverage of Bias Crime
Women as Agents of Political Violence
The Geography of U.S. Terrorist Incidents, 1970–2004
How are women who kill portrayed in newspaper media? Connections with social values and the legal system
The Contagiousness of Mass-Mediated Terrorism
Making the International Local
Responses to Media Coverage of Terrorism
Format and Symbols in TV Coverage of Terrorism in the United States and Great Britain
The Decline of Local News and Its Effects
Any Good News in Soft News? The Impact of Soft News Preference on Political Knowledge
Local News and National Politics
Geographies of Organized Hate in America
Armed and Explosive? An Explorative Statistical Analysis of Extremist Radicalization Cases with Military Background
In the Shadows
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |