Terrorism and The Media

Terrorism and the Media

Osama Bin Laden after his death; An example of Terrorism in the Media

            In a post 9/11 United States, terrorism becomes increasingly more important as the media encompasses many fast-paced mediums for reporting terrorism.  The media reports are some of the most important accounts of terrorism that the average American receives on a daily basis.  The media has the power to portray terrorism and terrorist acts in any light it chooses.  Stories have always been passed down through word of mouth, and each time the story is repeated, it changes slightly.  That process develops much faster with modern mass communication. People on both sides of every issue want their story told, so they wish to control the media spin.  For that reason, media coverage cannot be neutral, and can be used as a weapon.

            Terrorism usually involves motives beyond the initial act of vandalism or violence, and terrorist groups use the media to accomplish their overarching goals.  Both terrorists and governments seek to control the reports so the audience sees them in the most appealing light.  Since the definition of terrorism changes from person to person and group to group, the media plays a major role in defining terrorism for the targeted audience.  The media’s influence has the potential to be detrimental to society’s view of terrorism.  When phrases such as “broken borders” and “war on terrorism” are used frequently, society views terrorism as a large scale war that has defined borders.  Terrorism actually does not have borders.  Cyber terrorism can affect any group at any time anywhere in the world. 

Although foreign terrorism steals the spotlight in most media coverage, domestic terrorism might be a larger threat to security than foreign affairs.  In a 39 month study of ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News, the networks aired 85 stories concerned with homeland security and 373 stories concerned with the threat of terrorism.  The study revealed the preference of emotional stories that keep viewers’ attention rather than reporting the most relevant and dangerous terrorism.  The homeland security stories were not even aired until a security breach occurred.  Homeland security affects daily life in the United States more than the threats of terrorism, and it is taking the back seat in the reports. 

               The media in television has become focused on reporting the story with the most drama to create the most controversy to entertain viewers.  When guests appear on network news casts, the interview usually becomes an argument between the anchor and the guest.  Hosts constantly interrupt guests to answer their own questions.  Since news channels air 24 hours a day, stories are often replayed giving an illusion of repeated terrorist attacks.  The stories are also riddled with speculation as to how situations will end.  The media wants viewers to watch as much as they can, so emphasis falls on keeping viewers tuned in rather than the real issues in each story. 

              The internet is the most useful tool for terrorists to broadcast their views to the most people.  They also use the internet to operate more smoothly and efficiently as a group.  Some groups set up secure websites with its own email server.  Then, as long as the emails stay within the server, the emails are difficult to trace.  Terrorists have been known to hack into other websites.  Terrorists also use steganography.  Steganography is the process of embedding information in a picture, message or other piece of information.  One position on steganography claims that it enhances terrorist groups’ ability to communicate and launch cyberattacks. The other position held by Stephan Lau on steganography claims it is not very dangerous. The real threat is the American government’s ability to intercept that information without existing threats. 

             The author of this material remained mostly objective in reporting about terrorism and the media.  The author depicts all the different aspects and each aspect’s importance to the overall safety of targeted populations.  When talking about television, the author did not give many examples of broadcasts in which the anchor argued with a guest.  The author just stated that most interviews end in arguments.  There are other topics not discussed in this analysis, but the author of Terrorism and Homeland Security explains in detail in chapter four.  Overall, the material was well written and expressed all viewpoints on each topic.  The internet seemed to be the most emphasized topic due to the amount of media coverage on the internet along with the heavy reliance of terrorist groups on the internet to communicate and broadcast their messages.