Page 250 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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228———Media and Terrorism

the execution of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel place is for reasons other than positive portrayals of
Pearl by radical Muslims in Pakistan in early 2002, terrorism in the local media.
reporters are slain because their nationality or reli- Other critics say that media outlets inadvertently
gious affiliation essentially places them in the enemy encourage attacks because they help publicize the cause
camp. Opposition journalists are often a target for of a terrorist group. Since terrorists are trying to send a
state terrorism. message, the thinking goes, media outlets merely assist
As such tactics suggest, most terrorists read news- them when they cover terrorism. In some cases, those
papers, watch television, and listen to the radio just messages may go beyond publicizing a group’s goals:
like ordinary people do. That means terrorists can take following the September 11, 2001, attacks by Al Qaeda
advantage of information that is published or broad- on the United States, the group released several video-
cast—including information on how authorities plan tapes of its leader Osama bin Laden, raising concerns
to combat terrorism. Live coverage of terrorist attacks among U.S. officials that the tapes contained coded
can feed valuable information to the terrorists con- instructions intended for Al Qaeda operatives.
ducting the attacks. In at least one hijacking, a hostage But even if there are no secret messages, critics
was killed because radio broadcasts revealed he was argue that the guarantee of widespread coverage
surreptitiously aiding authorities, and in other cases encourages groups to resort to terrorism in order
media reports of police activities during hostage situ- to put their cause in the public eye. Coverage of
ations have put lives at risk. repeated attacks emphasizes the impotence of authori-
Media coverage may even influence what types of ties in ending terrorism and the power of the terrorist
terrorist attacks take place. Terrorism tends to go group. Such thinking led British prime minister
through trends or phases—first kidnapping will be Margaret Thatcher to declare in 1985 that democracies
common, then airplane hijackings, then suicide “must find a way to starve the terrorists and hijackers
bombs. Media coverage of, say, a hijacking may plant of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.”
the idea in the minds of other terrorists that they too Forcing a halt to media coverage of terrorism is a
should conduct a hijacking rather than a bank robbery. controversial idea, however. Some argue that if the
The real anthrax attacks of 2001 were doubtless a spur media choose to ignore a terrorist group, the group
to a variety of hoax attacks against abortion clinics may conduct bigger, more deadly attacks that cannot
and other targets. Of course, media coverage may only be ignored. And while spreading the news about an
be one of many factors because terrorist groups often attack likely spreads a sense of terror among the gen-
share information and receive similar training from a eral public, if the public believes that media outlets
common source. are holding back and that the news is even worse, gen-
The willingness of terrorists to take advantage of uine panic can emerge. The media can also be used by
the media has led some observers to the conclusion authorities to publicize potential threats as well as
that the media contribute to the problem of terrorism. arrests made and plots foiled, thus communicating to
The harshest critics charge that media outlets deliber- the public and the terrorists that the government is in
ately cover terrorist attacks in a way that will lead to control of the situation.
more attacks. These critics allege that the media and Preventing media coverage of terrorism while
the terrorists benefit each other, since ratings and sales retaining the press freedoms seen as crucial to main-
go up when terrorism occurs. Consequently, media taining a democratic society is a tricky business. In the
reports portray the terrorists positively, as dashing 1970s and 1980s, Great Britain combated terrorism
freedom fighters, for example, thus encouraging future by Irish nationalists by barring broadcasts featuring
attacks. people who supported Irish terrorist groups. These
Studies of media coverage of terrorist attacks measures were controversial and largely ineffective in
lend little authority to this criticism, however. Media preventing terrorist attacks. Indeed, some have argued
reports of terrorist attacks tend to use either neutral or that by curtailing press freedom, governments can do
condemning language, rarely expressing support. In more damage to democracy than terrorists can.
addition, media reports are more likely to condemn
See also COUNTERTERRORISM; HOSTAGE TAKING; IRISH
attacks if they occur in the same country where the REPUBLICAN ARMY; MUNICH OLYMPICS MASSACRE;
outlet is based, suggesting that any popular support PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION; RED BRIGADES;
for terrorist groups in a country where attacks take STATE TERRORISM; UNABOMBER