HOMELAND SECURITY AND TERRORISM
In the article of Savage (2013), the military judge has ruled on the censorship of media censorship as well as the anti-censorship view when it order to disallow the use of technology to conduct off-stage censorship during the hearing of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other inmates who were linked during the September 11 terrorist attacks. In its order, the judge ruled that the said technology granting the offstage censors, including the Central Intelligence Agency, should be stopped. The judge, Col. James L. Pohl of the Army further stated that the removal any public feed that shows the on-going live proceedings during the trial that held in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba must not be lodged under the control of unknown security officers. Pohl stated that he does not allow any party to unilaterally suspend the broadcast in based on the party’s discretion. This was the result of the incident when there were unidentified security officials who were placed outside of the courtroom, and controlled the feed of the proceedings which they will show to the media and public by implementing a delay of 40 seconds (Salvage, 2013). The military judge ruled that it is only him, who has the power to decide what should be shown to the public and will condemn anyone person who shall exercise a censorship button without his order, other than a designated security officer. Hence, he ruled that such media censorship is illegal.
In my opinion, I am an advocate of censorship on the media reports given by the journalists and news anchors. It is for the simple reason that the public should not be alarmed by some of the negative reports by people in media. Some over-hyped news will cause public disorder causing them to panic from false reports that should be handled with caution. Hence, the censorship on media reports on terrorists should be implemented.
According to Sahara Reporters (2012), Directorate of the State Security Service (SSS) in Nigeria have become alarmed by the several reports on acts of terrorism in Nigeria because it has exposed the security in Abuja, which is a critical states the terrorism has become rampant in their country. The security members were asked to undergo proper training since the media has placed the law enforcement agency in a bad light by exposing the security problems of the country, which can cause an alarm on the public. Hence, there were guest journalists who have to learn about the dos and don’ts of reporting on terrorists on the basis of the book of the Nigerian secret police (Sahara Reports, 2012). In effect, the SSS was partly destroyed of its credibility since they blamed the agency for its poor intelligence work during the recent bombings conducted by terrorists.
In other instances, when the media steps in during terrorist attack cases or actual incidents, it becomes an incentive enough for the development of a violent action (Ganor, 2005, p.246). In this manner, the media is liable to become an agent that provokes or participates in violence and terrorism, instead on doing the responsibility of reporting about a terroristic activity. In both cases, it was shown in the news that can be found in New York Times (2013) and Sahara Reports (2012) that to some extent, media should be regulated in order to protect the public from greater damage. In the U.S., this behavior can be considered as a self-imposed intelligence discipline. It is recommended that media should concentrate on objective reporting and responsible news analysis before releasing the report to the public. The senior official of the SSS has informed the agency was not pleased with the way reporters have exposed the problems facing the country lashed out on the poor intelligence work, by putting the image of the service in a bad light based on their negative reports.
In fact, White (2011, p. 124) stated that people assume that acts of terrorism can be induced by reckless media coverage and that media people have given the terrorists with information which will be able to strengthen the furtherance of their objectives. Media intelligence should be treated as a departmental input and not as the core of the national security decision-making entity (Sharma, 2005, p. 504). At present, media plays a significant role in making intelligence services on terrorism as highly politicized in order to make the headline of newspapers attractive to the public. It can be concluded that there is absence of intelligence culture based on the contradictory pronouncements of various political leaders and media reporting (Sharma, 2005, p. 504).
Censorship of media reports on terrorism will be more beneficial for both the public and the intelligence agencies of the government in order for the terrorist not benefit from the details of the report released by the media. It is expected that media should exercise due diligence while reporting about sensitive issue of intelligence matters involving terrorism (Sharma, 2005, p. 504).
References
Ganor, B. (2005). The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle: A Guide for Decision Makers. New Jersey:
Transactional Publishers.
Sahara Reports. (2012). Nigeria Secret Police Moves To Censor Media Reports on Terrorism.
Sahara Reports 1.Web. from April 26, 2013.
http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigeria-secret-police-moves-censor-media-reports-terrorism.
Savage, Charlie. (2013). Judge Stops Censorship in Sept. 11 Case. New York Times.com.Web.
April 26, 2013.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/us/politics/9-11-judge-orders-end-to-outside-government-censors.html.
Sharma, D.P. (2005). The New Terrorism: Islamist International. New Delhi: A.P.H.
Publishing.
White, J. (2011). Terrorism and homeland security. California: Cengage.
