Abstract

This OPEN SEMINAR DISCUSSION will focus on the mediation of the two attacks in Norway on July 22, 2012. The first attack involved a car bomb detonated outside government buildings in Oslo at 15:26, killing 8 people and injuring a further 98. The second attack, reported to police at 17:30, was a shooting spree at the AUF youth camp on the Utøya island - 69 people were eventually confirmed shot and 60 injured. Topics that will be addressed include the role of citizen journalism / social media and its relation to traditional media (especially live reporting), comparing domestic and international news reporting of the attacks and their immediate aftermath (emphasis on changing frames from Islamic terrorism to domestic right-wing extremism), and finally how the events impacted upon the reporting of local elections held in September 2011.