(Professor/Instructor)
(College/University/Institute)
The digital revolution that reached its peak in the second part of the 20th century pervades its influence on every facet of the global society. One of the effects of a society impacted by this evolution is the faster access to data and the availability of the global community to that information. Nonetheless, there is another instance that is changing the operation of contemporary society-extremism. Examining all of its contemporary features, extremism is posing a two-pronged threat; one, it impacts the global community and two, terrorism impacts the changes that society will undergo. It is only after the changes in the society spurred on by information have triggered the development of society towards openness and innovative communication potentials (Peresin 5-6).
Terrorism benefits in one way or another from the coverage given to it by the media; however, there is a more enigmatic position here, whether there is a benefit that the media establishment benefits from the commission of acts of terrorism? What are the types of relationships that media and the extremists maintain with each other (Camphujisen, Vissers 14-15). Defining terrorists will boil down to a single characteristic-an inordinate desire to seek attention. Extremists commit hostile, cold-blooded, irrational acts of violence to instill fear in the target society as well as interrupt that society’s routines in terms of its daily operation (Rather).
The association between the media establishment and the media is reliant on the definition that society will accord to extremism. Though majority of the definitions currently in use center mainly on the use of physical violence, there are those that point to the critical importance of the target, the political significance of the action of these extremists, or the status of the rogue nation/state in relation to the international community; however, one of the more prevalent definitions in the current literature is that terrorism is a communication medium. Considering extremism aside from the infliction of physical and irrational violence by “sub state” groups for political/religious objectives and integrates one element for the conveyance of their message to a listening global audience, then the media is a central element in the planning and strategizing among extremist groups.
Conventional research into extremist mindsets regarded the media establishment to be a vital element in the conveyance of the message of the group. Hence, the group considers the media as a “partner” not only in effectively disseminating the propaganda of the group to a larger audience. In this light, the core pursuit of terrorists is not limited to the infliction of casualties or spreading fear in the target society, but to spread fear and speculation among the target population by way the media determines the newsworthiness of the item. Hence, the media, as mentioned earlier, is the group’s accomplice, or even a willing partner (Spencer 7-8).
Contemporary scholars call present day acts of extremism “mass media oriented” terrorism. In this sense, the main objectives of the terrorists are not the infliction of wide sale damage and destruction on a target, but rather that the scale and magnitude of the attack would be savage enough to warrant extensive media coverage to spread the message of the group. Hence, it can be said that the purpose of the terrorist attacks are to inflict wide scale carnage, but also to be able to spread the message of the group to the international community. The advent of these technologies has allowed even the smallest, unknown terrorist groups to acquire a global “audience” and to use the media as a “weapon of mass destruction.” However, the media is not the culprit or co-conspirator of the extremists in spreading its deviant message; the media serves the interests of the audience rather than the terrorist. In effect, the media “breathes” for the terrorist giving life to the actions of the extremists, giving the extremists the “oxygen of publicity.” The gnawing objective of these extremists to be covered by the world’s most influential and powerful and news shows and organizations; being featured by these shows gives them a sense of legitimacy in the holding of their supporters and adherents.
In this light, Hoffman (2003), as cited by Peresin (2007: 7), avers that extremism is an “act of violence intended to communicate a message” by its sheer brutality. As one extremist group leader avers, the goal of these attacks is to “shock people” and thus effectively communicate their agenda. The media, as the principal conveyor of that message, thus forms an integral part in the calculations of the group in staging an attack. To the media establishment, the attacks conducted by the extremist groups are regarded as significant newsworthy items that raise the awareness of the global community of the actions of the extremists as well as the fear that these groups wish to impose on the world.
This in turn will raise the ratings and the profits of the media companies that cover these news items. Every ratings point increases the profit margins of these companies by tens of millions of dollars; in addition, news editors can be utterly unaware of the political implications of showing these news items and the unyielding effort of these companies to raise the coverage of their companies of these events and actualize a parallel rise in the ratings of the company. Nonetheless, determinative factors that will sway media establishments to cover these events are extremely complex items.
Here, two postulate can be considered: one, the “powerful mass media paradigm” which holds to the position that media holds a powerful determining element in the way that the message of the group is transmitted, and the “weak mass media paradigm” that holds that the effect of the media in determining whether the new item will be able to impact society. In this light, it is being posited that the persuasive powers of the media rises in situations when the media is the only “source of information” and there are no other views or opinions that are being discussed with regards to that event. In the holding of Cepulkauskaite (2000), media can play a major role in molding public opinion on extremisms and that their actions are newsworthy is a just resolution (Peresin 7-8).
It must be emphasized that extremists will not go out and commit pointless acts of violence for the sole purpose of committing violence; extremists commit acts of violence that are designed to attract the attention of the media. Another approach to interpret this point is to believe that the actions of the extremists rely on whether the media will carry the story. One of the “clincher” factors that will sway the attention of the media, and the possible media coverage, is the degree of savagery the terrorists will inflict in their targets; this can be quantified by the number of victims and innocents that will be hurt in the attack or the stature of the victims of their attacks.
Terrorists do not measure out the level of viciousness that these will inflict on their targets; the more victims that these will be able to generate in their actions, the more that the media will be drawn to cover the story. This interest in the journalistic circle greatly increases with the number of innocents such as children or victims of stature. Other ways to increase the newsworthiness of the story is in the use of symbols. Specific dates or locations that have special and significant connections to their target communities have an improved chance at getting media attention when the terrorists launch an attack against these targets (Camphujisen, Vissers 16-18).
Doward (2015) holds that different extremist activities tend to impact the media in different manners. In the report of Universidad EAFIT School of Economics and Finance professor Michael Jetter, the reporting of violence will result in more atrocities and attacks. Studies show that these acts are geared for the media to sensationalize the events and thus terrorist groups will be able to reap more compared to acts that will merit only token attention and coverage. Jetter proffered the position by comparing news items on sensational news of terrorist attacks compared to news regarding natural disasters. In his analysis, Jetter noted an unambiguous link between the first news reports and the follow up reports in the succeeding weeks. Jetter found that suicide attacks are given more news attention, which can proffer as to why this method of attack is finding more adherents among extremist groups.
Jetter also researched on attacks that were committed farther from the US mainland; in his report, Jetter posited that these attacks were given significantly lower amounts of media attention that instances that occurred closer to the United States. The report also stated that the attention that the media accorded an attack was indicative of the possibility of another attack in the targeted country within a period of seven (7) days and a lower cycle time until the launch of another attack. Jetter’s study proffers the question whether restricting the coverage of extremist attacks will result in a parallel decline in the frequency of these attacks. Here, Jetter believes there is an urgent need to rethink current approaches that tend to over exaggerate coverage media agencies freely give to extremist groups and thus deprive these groups the “free publicity” these groups are given every time these groups launch an attack (Doward).
However, it can also be said that given the enormity of the attacks in Beirut and Paris, and though both events were extensively covered by the media establishment, the media did not allocate the same amount of resources to these events. Hence, the media dies not accord the same importance to all media events. When the language bends the language and then is further skewered on social media platforms such as Facebook, these will increase the likelihood that the media will cover a particular event compared to another.
In this light, it can be said that the media with regards to its coverage policy is not equitable, choosing one event over another not because of importance, but more of deciding which event will generate higher ratings. Hence, media has an important part in molding the political debate and direction of the argument in the public arena of discourse. For example, the viewers are not to be blamed for the choice of the media to cover events in Paris compared to instances in Beirut. This is not to demean attacks on innocents in Beirut as less than important and barbaric; it is that the choices of media establishments to cover events in Paris that can help generate ratings (Ajaka).
The spread of all day television coverage and news reporting over various media platforms on the Internet has further amplified the magnifying effect of media on terrorist attacks. The heightened exposure of the media establishment not only gives people nearly minute-by-minute coverage of terror attacks; it also gives the audience a sense of collective victimization as the events unfold. In addition, the media establishment’s inordinate exposure of the events ensures that the audience that the terrorists will automatically become larger compared to the viewership if the media did not carry the story or only accorded the story token coverage.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ensuing global media coverage ensured that the criminals who committed this savage act will gain the necessary media mileage the group desired. With the world watching the events unfold owing to the extensive media coverage, the global community was overshadowed by a paralyzing fear with the seeming dread that more and more savage attacks will unfold. The attacks on Mumbai in 2008 had a parallel but more confined effect; Indians were fearful of becoming victims of Lashkar-e-Taiba gunmen and the possibility of another Mumbai style assault.
The media, by its coverage of the events, becomes a magnifying lens of the attacks, amplifies the effect of the attacks even though these are thousands of miles away from “ground zero.” However, mainstream media cannot be solely blamed for the spread of the extremists’ agenda in the world owing to the “ratings game” being practiced in the industry. The Internet also has a role in the rapid spread of the terrorists’ agenda. Website owners gain substantial revenues from advertisements from the visitor traffic; in this light, these owners have an intrinsic interest in hosting these preposterous and stunning terrorism stories. Also, tweets from individuals within the area of the attack can also magnify the impact of an attack (Stewart).
One of the more common assertions regarding the symbiotic relationship of terrorists and media is that both stand to gain from the inordinate levels of media coverage from extremist attacks. When the extremists commit their heinous attacks, these are able to communicate their aspirations and demands; the media acquires a large viewership as extremist attacks draw on many characteristics that communications research establishes as critical for media to be able to sustain an interest in a story.
Regarding the claim that journalists tend to promote the message of the terrorists by way of extensive coverage of their activities, the former contend that extremism is a critical public policy concern and thus deserves the extensive media coverage that it currently is getting. Journalism ethics codes restrict the ability of the media establishment’s desire to exploit extremism to raise their ratings and in this light, direct their attention to increase their coverage of the activities of the extremists’ groups and the response of governments to the acts of extremism done within their borders or to allied nations (Walsh 5-6).
Generally, extremist attacks are executed to attract attention to their cause, such as religious or political objectives of groups such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Getting the attention of the public is an extremely integral goal among extremists. Nonetheless, the media coverage given by the international media establishment to terrorists varies considerably. One of the more general comprehensions of terrorism is that the impact of extremism has been amplified by the capacity of media entities to distribute the news of the actions of these groups spontaneously across the globe (Jetter 2-3).
A number of instances in recent history have constantly showed the dangerous symbiotic relationship of media and terrorist organizations. Whether the attacks were committed in the United States, Europe, or in the Middle East, it seems that the terrorists benefit from the efficient reporting the media possesses in reporting extremist attacks. The goals of the attackers are relatively the same-attention, recognition, and a sense of legitimacy for their actions. The media establishment in turn gets the attention from the public essential for its existence in terms of ratings.
In the holding of Seib and Janbek (2011), terrorists must be able to communicate their agenda and their propaganda; media provides them with that avenue. Media on the other hand, provides the public with the mechanism to acquire information regarding the attacks. Hence, it would be definitive to state that the media has impacted terrorism and terrorism has impacted media as well (Bilgen).
A number of extremist groups acknowledge the fact that implementing their criminally deviant plans through the unleashing violent attacks, though possibly persuading the target society to acknowledge the capacity of these groups, is not the best option in order to achieve the victory in their war against their enemies. “Veteran” terrorists such as Osama bin Laden reason that propaganda is a heavily imbibed element in the rhetoric of these groups. To be able to spread these messages faster and to a wider group, terrorist groups plan and execute their deviant plans as a form of bait for the media establishment to “bite” and act as a willing disseminator of the propaganda of these terrorists (Lumbaca, Gray).
Conclusion
It is stated that, according to Dutch writer Mark Blaisse, that the media has become exposed to every kind of pressure that it is unable to report in an accurate and fair manner. Blaisse also reminds the people that the primary objective of media is to entertain rather than report an event as objectively as possible. In this light, the main goal of media, if the objective is to entertain, is to maximize the realization of profits. Blaisse notes that reporters have a responsibility in the manner that these structure their reports before being presented to the public. Hence, the media must be able to present its objectives in an objective manner sans the fanfare that will sensationalize the subject and thus make for good “entertainment” and become a source of increased revenues and ratings (Camphujisen, Vissers 20-22).
Works Cited
Ajaka, Nadine. “Paris, Beirut and the language used to describe terrorism” <http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/paris-beirut-media-coverage/416457/
Bilgen, Arda, “Terrorism and the media: a dangerous symbiosis” <http://www.e-ir.info/2012/07/22/terrorism-and-the-media-a-dangerous-symbiosis/ (2012)
Camphujisen, Marjolein, Vissers, Esther, “Terrorism and the mass media: a symbiotic relationship?” Social Cosmos, 14-21
Doward, Jamie. “Media coverage of terrorism ‘leads to further violence’” The Guardian 1 August 2015
Jetter, Michael, “Terrorism and the media” <http://ftp.iza.org/dp8497.pdf (2014)
Lumbaca, Sonise, Gray, David H., “The media as an enabler for acts of terrorism” Global Security Studies 2(1), 2011
Peresin, Anita. “Mass media and terrorism” (2007) pp. 5-22
Rather, Dan “Media’s balancing act with terrorism” <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/11/opinion/rather-media-and-terrorism/
Spencer, Alexander, “Lessons learnt-terrorism and the media.” <http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/documents/project-reports-and-reviews/ahrc-public-policy-series/terrorism-and-the-media/
Stewart, Scott, “Keeping terrorism in perspective” <https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/keeping-terrorism-perspective (2012)
Walsh, James, “Media attention to terrorist attacks: causes and consequences” <http://sites.duke.edu/ihss/files/2011/12/IHSS_Research-Brief_Walsh.pdf
