Ed may be interested in “Outrage Factors and Explanations in News Coverage of the Anthrax Attacks in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. Columbia:Summer 2007. The content analysis examined risk communication factors in news coverage of the 2001 anthrax attacks appearing in 833 stories from 272 newspapers, AP, NPR, and four national television networks (CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC). Conflicting reports, speculation, use of unnamed sources, and coverage of vague advice and hoaxes/false alarms-frequently contained outrage rhetoric.
And for legal interpretations on the BWCC combined with characterization of the sophistication of the mailed anthrax, there is American Journal of International Law, April 1, 2007 — containing the article “The shortcomings of indeterminacy in arms control regimes: the case of the Biological Weapons Convention.”
Excerpt:
“Although the BWC purports to out law the development and possession of all biological weapons, deadlier and more sophisticated biological weapons than were imaginable in 1972 can now be and have been produced, as evidenced in October 2001 by two letters sent to the Capitol Hill offices of Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. (2) These letters reportedly contained threatening notes and a dangerous and sophisticated form of “weapons-grade” anthrax spores. (3) Even though both the sender of these letters and the source of the anthrax remain unknown, the technical sophistication of the spores led some experts to suggest that the attacker was supported by aU.S. “biodefense” laboratory or an advanced foreign-state-run biological weapons (BW) facility because the spores could not have been produced by an amateur working in his basement. (4)
In addition to the empirical evidence of new “super” biological weapons, the failings of the BWC are further mani-fested by the growing significance that countries like the United States attach to the BW threat, (5) allegations by senior U.S. government officials that terrorists and rogue states possess biological weapons, (6) and contentious review conferences of BWC states parties that have been unable to resolve cheating and compliance concerns.”
Thanks. I'll try to get a copy of "Outrage Factors and Explanations in News Coverage of the Anthrax Attacks". It appears to have never been downloaded. The subject seems interesting, though.
I've got a regular visitor to my site who lives in Kansas. Maybe it's the author of the article.