Examination of Blog Discussion about the Beheading of Two American Journalists by ISIS

Abstract

This study utilizes the beheading of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014. The content analyses of 980 comments from three political blogs (Townhall - conservative, Daily Kos - liberal, and The Moderate Voice - moderate) reveal that the majority of blog users exhibited their subjective thoughts and opinions rather than engaging in deliberative communication based on deep reasoning. Blog users also did not show a reciprocal attitude, mostly ignoring different voices. Most comments were made based on one-sided perspectives.