Media refers to the principal means of mass communication, which includes broadcasting, publishing, and the internet. The relationship between media and terrorism is mostly not given the attention it deserves. The symbiosis is both vicious and dangerous. This is because the acts of terrorism, without the coverage, the impact would be wasted. The media should work to strengthen the efforts against terrorism, but this does not happen as expected. Both the media and terrorism are thus interdependent as they do benefit from each other in various ways.
Terrorism has to be communicated in such a way to affect. The media covers the incidences in such a manner to benefit from the public’s eagerness to obtain information about the terrorist attacks (Bilgen, 2012). This becomes effective, especially considering that all media sources are working to have many viewers and readers in such a competitive world. This, in turn, works for the terrorists interested in the audience and how they will react. Because of this, the terrorists will carefully select the places to attack to have the best media coverage (Bilgen, 2012).
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Through the media, the terrorists will publicize their political cause, inform both friends and foes about the motives and deeds, and explain the rationale for sorting the violence. Through this, the media unknowingly further gives them the status of being viewed as legitimate world leaders. The internet media enables terrorists to take whatever images and messages they decide to the online audience, which is global in reach. The internet increases the scope of terrorism propaganda and activities, and thus it has become a perfect tool enabling the terrorists to advance their operational goals with minimum expense and risks (Bilgen, 2012).
The media is always quick to brand all types of violent incidences as acts of terrorism, including all the crimes of opportunities such as armed robbery, kidnappings, and murder. As a result, the terrorists benefit immensely by instilling fear among the public with the help of free media coverage. This happens because of the limited knowledge on the side of journalists about what constitutes acts of terrorism (Ogunlana, 2012). In addition to using the media to manipulate the populace and arouse public emotions, the terrorists eventually do succeed in influencing the government’s decisions and policies (Ogunlana, 2012)
From the points above, it is clear that media and terrorism depend on each other in terms of mutual benefits. This is because the acts of terrorism will act as sources of the much sought out news, and through this, the terrorists will get popularity and succeed in their objectives. Because of this, the media needs to be selective between the type of news and story that promotes the terrorists’ objectives and the news that enhances counterterrorism efforts.
References
Bilgen, Ardan. Terrorism and the Media: A Dangerous Symbiosis . 22 July, 2012, www.e-ir.info/2012/07/22/terrorism-and-the-media-a-dangerous-symbiosis/.
Ogunlana, Oludare. The Role of the Media in Attacking Terrorism . Sahara Reporters, 25 Apr. 2012, saharareporters.com/2012/04/25/role-media-attacking-terrorism.
