Terrorism and the Pressby

Brooke Barnett & Amy Reynolds

• What role do media play in terrorist activity?• How important is the media to spreading

fear?• What is the symbiotic relationship between

the media and terrorism?• What effect does terrorism have on national

policy?

Introduction

Chapter 1

What is terrorism?

Define Terrorism

• State Department, Department of Defense, Dictionary, other?

• How do members of the media define or describe terrorism?

• How does agenda setting fit into what media choose to cover as terrorism?

• Describe how framing influences media coverage of terrorism.

Common Elements of Terrorism

• Small units• Small weapons• Usually don’t wear uniforms• Targets are state symbols, political opponents,

and the public at large • Not recognized as a legal act

Classifying Political Violence• State versus state (war)

• State versus citizen (top-down terrorism)

• Citizen versus state (bottom-up terrorism)

• Citizen versus citizen (crime)

Causes of Terrorism

• Usually fighting against some form of oppression (real or perceived)–Socioeconomic–Political –Religious

• Historical context and examples

Modern Terrorist Have Four Media-Dependent Goals

• Attention • Recognition• Respect• Status

Triangle of Political Communication

Public

Government

Media

Chapter 2 The News Media & Terrorism

“Terrorism is capable of writing any drama – no matter how horrible – to compel the media’s attention…” Abraham Miller, political scientist, 1982

Media’s role in terrorist acts• The press is an important vehicle through

which people learn about and come to understand terrorism, its causes, and how governments respond.

• How have media become central to terrorist movements?

• Describe how terrorists and the media are in a quasi-symbiotic relationship.

Mass Communication Theory

• Agenda Setting – media tell us what to think about

• Cultivation – media create a stronger fear of terrorism

• Framing – context, emphasis, exclusion, elaboration

Hierarchy of influences

• Ideological - power distribution• Extra-media - outside sources• Organizational - structure• Routines - deadlines• Individual - viewpoints

Do you agree?“No medium has provided more oxygen to terrorism

than television.”

“By devoting extraordinary broadcast time and column inches to even minor violence and elevating it to the level of spectacular reality show, the mass media, especially television, play into the hands of terrorists.”

Source: Brigette Nacos

What’s in a word?

Terrorism

Journalist’s Role in Reporting the News

•Interpret•Disseminate•Challenge

Relationship between media and terrorism

•Symbiotic•Paradoxical

Chapter 3News media and government

Media’s influence

• Little evidence that media change people’s opinions

• Media can influence how people perceive information

• Media can help set public agenda• Terrorism is a strategy aimed at forcing

political change

Power of the Press & the President• What are some examples of heightened public

support of the Commander-in-Chief following a terrorist attack (rally around the flag effect)?

• How does the 24 hour news cycle affect policy makers?

• How do policy makers affect the 24 hours news cycle?

• Discuss a recent example where live and continuous news coverage of foreign affairs influenced public policy.

Public Information or Propaganda?

• Origins• Definitions• Objectives• Devices

Propaganda Devices

• Name-calling• Glittering generality• Transfer• Testimonial• Plain folks• Card Stacking• Band Wagon

Pentagon’s Hidden Hand?

Pentagon’s Hidden Hand?

• Propaganda or public information?• Military analysts served as “talking heads”• Purpose of talking points & conference calls• Symbiotic relationship between government

and media• Differing viewpoints based on New York Times

reporter’s perspective and those of a former Pentagon press officer

Access to Information

• Who is responsible for an informed citizenry?• Those in power (government)?• The people (governed)?• The press (watchdog)?

• What access should media have?

Chapter 4 Image

“Photographs have the kind of authority over imagination today, which the printed word had yesterday, and the spoken word before that. They seem utterly real.” – Walter Lippman, 1922

Cognitive & Emotional Implications

• What comes to mind when you view these images?

• How do these images make you feel?

What images should be shown?• People jumping from the Twin Towers?• Body and severed head of U.S. contractor

killed in Iraq?• Video showing the execution of Wall Street

Journal reporter in Afghanistan?• American soldiers dragged through the

streets of Somalia?• Flag-draped caskets coming home from war?

What impact do images have?

• Describe how images could have an agenda-setting effect on viewers.

• How could images affect the information that journalists intend to convey?

• Could news stories be more effective if compelling images were shown first followed by relevant facts?

• How do threatening images in terrorism coverage influence the public?

Frame Analysis

• Process that alerts us to an issue

• Selection of images to accompany text

• Interaction between audience and image to assign meaning

Images play a key role in the media coverage of terrorism

• Influence memory and perception• Help make issues seem real• Are easy and efficient way to draw a

reader (or viewer) into a story

“Showing the awful truth is as important as writing about it.”

Chapter 5 Television and Terrorism

“The satellite will distribute terrorist paranoia around the world in living color to match each acceleratingly disruptive event.” – Marshall McLuhan and Bruce Powers, The Global Village, 1989

Television• Instills fear more than any other medium

• Medium of choice for terrorist

• Terrorist plan their attacks based on TV coverage

• People turn first to TV following a terrorist attack

Television employs

• Immediacy• Intimacy• Imagery

Newsworthiness•Significant•Timely•Novel

24-hour News

• Around-the-clock coverage and live reports mean that we can get more information but not necessarily better information.

• Little to no historical, economic, or social context.

• Episodic vs. thematic reports.

Pattern of News Coverage about Terrorist Attack

• The attack itself including number of casualties

• Interviews with elite sources speculating about U.S. response

• Emotional interviews with family members of attack victims

Stages of Crisis Coverage

• Stage One: disaster is announced including unconfirmed reports

• Stage Two: perspective and correction of errors

• Stage Three: larger perspective and coping with aftermath

Significance of Breaking News

• Tight deadlines• Absence of hard information (facts)• Unconfirmed information and rumors

Journalist Role during a Terrorist Attack

Oklahoma City Bombing

9/11 Attacks

London Bombing

India Train Attacks

Traditional Journalist

96.75% 78% 73.53% 73.41%

Eyewitness 0.94% 18.52% 8.54% 10.71%

Expert 0.85% 2.23% 15.81% 7.49%

Social commentator

1.46% 1.15% 2.07% 2.24%

Other 0 0.10% 0.05% 1.05%

Sources of Information Changing

• In 1972, 46% of college-age Americans read a newspaper everyday. Less than 29% today.

• People find their information from nontraditional sources (talk shows, entertainment news magazines, comedy news shows).

• Fake news shows were shown to be just as substantive as network television coverage.

Chapter 6Media Coverage of Terrorism at Home

and Abroad

“The journalists were people living in their own country that had been attacked and there was not enough questioning (about Iraq).” – Christiane Amanpour, 2007

Journalists are people too

• Need to be critical, cynical, and challenging

• Often are defensive, nationalistic, and afraid

• Affected by their own culture, proximity to the event, and audience expectations

Modern Media Coverage

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) policy emphasizes that “accuracy is more important than speed” contrasted with U.S. practice of “first to bring you the news.”

• Internal struggle between journalists’ responsibilities to enlighten fellow citizens and business responsibilities to increase profits.

• Hard news vs. soft news• The rise of infotainment & 24 hour news

International News Coverage

• 70-80 percent reduction in U.S. news coverage of foreign events in the past two decades.

• When U.S. media does cover world events, it focuses on terrorism, war, and natural disasters.

• Between 1986-2006, only three years showed foreign news stories receiving top interest.

British 7/7 vs. U.S. 9/11Media Coverage

• U.S. coverage focused on fear.• British coverage emphasized calm. • U.S. media were less critical and less analytical

about government responses.• Differences due to:

– Media’s role in society– Culture– Historical values– Proximity to terrorist act

Did U.S. media abandon their

role as watchdog in the wake of

September 11 attacks?

Chapter 7The Challenge of Patriotism

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, it is morally treasonable to the American public.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

Abu Ghraib

Was it right or wrong for U.S. media to publish these photos?

Is it unpatriotic to report news that may hurt the war effort?

What were the media responsibilities leading up to the

War in Iraq?

What’s in a word?

• Patriot• Terrorist• Traitor

License Plate

Watchdog Role of the Press

• Fourth estate

• Patriotic duty as the overseer of government

• Public paradox

Hegemony

• Journalists’ guidelines and routines are informed by the dominant ideology

• Journalists tend to cover and frame topics in ways that support the status quo

• U.S. journalists present a pro-American perspective when covering international news

Patriotic Journalism

Dangerous if it does not – provide the public with

objective and detached information people need to make sound decisions

– include diverse sources with different viewpoints

Can journalists be loyal to their country while provoking spirited debate that might lead to dissension?

Does a lapel pin affect the media’s message?

Chapter 8 Lessons Learned

“The role of a free press is to be the people’s eyes and ears, providing not just information but access, insight and, most importantly, context.” – The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart

Final Thoughts• Balance free and responsible press with national security• Journalistic bias, like terrorism, is in the eye of the

beholder.• Audiences expect evidence and analysis, not just

stenography, to help make sense of the news and to investigate official statements.

• Journalism ought to make it as easy as possible for citizens to make intelligent decisions about public affairs.

• Democracy not only protects a free press, it demands a public-minded press and an engaged citizenry, willing to join the debate in civic affairs.

News media is the primary vehicle through which a significant

number of people learn about and come to understand terrorism.