Terrorism and media pdf

Social Science. Media, Terrorism, and Theory. Over the past few years, media outlets have spotlighted coverage of terror attacks. Drawing on both popular and academic articles, Media, Terrorism, and Theory analyzes the larger issues surrounding media's portrayal of terrorism.

From such diverse fields as political science, media studies, architecture, and information science, each contributor brings a. Media, Terrorism and Society.

This book provides new insights on contemporary terrorism and media research, opening the door for fresh perspectives and trends exploring theories and concepts in the field. Advances in technology have increased the threat of terrorism, as the Internet has helped terrorists to recruit new members, plan their attacks, and amplify. Hess , p. Creating terrorist television channels has similar advantages for terrorist organizations as the use of the Internet, due to the level exposure.

Chitty , p. In saying this it does have its disadvantages it is harder to remain anonymous and easier to ban satellite channels than Internet sites. Also most of the interactivity that the Internet is renowned for is lost on satellite television. Therefore, a combination of Internet, television, and possibly other media, as Hezbollah employs, can be a potent weapon for a terrorist organization. Dobkin , p. As the multi- national cell organization aiming to dispose Western Imperialism from the Middle East uses media to cover the single terror attacks such as suicide-bombings and airline hijackings.

New technologies have simply allowed the dissemination of terrorist messages to reach a broader audience with a more concise message. Al Qaeda now tends to rely more heavily on the internet as a medium to which they reach the media.

Torres , 34 This is mainly due to the internet being safer but also allows Al Qaeda to speak directly to their audience with an untainted message. The internet acts as a direct media with no filter for the language, message or imagery used, communication technologies are pushing the boundaries of what television audiences are used to viewing. Al Qaeda has now moved forward with a new media strategy that gives them access to an unlimited public attention.

Altheide , pp. Making their stories more relatable to the general public by humanizing the people involved within the news story creates the ability for the watcher to become more personally involved.

Ross , p. Terrorism becomes violence for effect not for the physical effect on the actual target but rather for its dramatic impact on the audience. Hoffman , p. Matin , p. This provided him with a most visible platform due to the extensive coverage it received.

In his taped message directed to the American people towards and Muslims worldwide he articles his call for Jihad following the US invasion of Afghanistan. Shpiro , pp. Pedahzur , p. The importance on how American news agencies covered this event was central. As many Americans had not heard of Osama bin Laden nor the Taliban before.

In conclusion terrorist organizations use media as a means of conveying their ideological preferences to influence public opinion have proved successful.

This influence in using media to forward the organizations views allows people to become aware to its aims and objectives. As the media are interested in reporting terrorism, the more attention it pays to certain phenomenon the more importance the public attributes to such an issue.

This enables media and terrorism to be intrinsically linked with its use within terror events leading to more aggressive attacks and thus a higher casualty rates in order to attain more attention.

Though both the media and terror organizations seem to benefit from their corresponding actions, disadvantages can be seen. Sometimes the media can be blamed for spreading terrorist propaganda or likewise misinterpretation by the media into the reasons behind the attack. The winners of this conflict will be the group who most effectively uses the media to shape public opinion and tries to gain the advantage of using the public as tools of influence.

Overall the main aim of terrorism is thus, a violent act that is conceived specifically to attract attention in order to gain support for a specific cause. Soft news goes to war: Public opinion and American foreign policy in the new media age.

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