Over the past few decades, the general impact of mass media has grown immensely. Nowadays, more people all over the world are able to collect information on all types of issues affecting our societies from various communication sources such as the internet, television, radio and newspaper. Terrorists normally seek to publicize theirs acts and to influence public opinion, therefore, they have become more aware of the importance and enormous impact of mass media. On the other hand, the mass media is obligated to meet the needs of the consumer by providing varied stories which normally range from emotional resonance, dramatic incidents to highly disturbing news. In light of this fact, a symbiotic relationship is created between the media and the terrorism groups.
In regard to covering terrorism and terrorist acts, the media in most cases adopt the aspect of “framing” and biasness in the course of their coverage. Framing involves selecting some aspects of a particular perceived reality and making them more salient in a communicating text, in a way that largely promotes a particular problem definition, moral evaluation, causal interpretation and the treatment of recommendation (Norris, Montague and Marion 122). Therefore, during terrorism, this symbiotic relationship leads the media to using words and images that ends up making up the frame that distinguishes the terrorist’s activities from the rest of the stories thus stimulating anxiety, support or opposition of various political conflicts (Norris, Montague and Marion 122).
Additionally, the media acts as a force multiplier in regard to the issue of terrorism since it has the ability to either mar or make the war efforts. It is one of the bodies that can easily enhance a story of quickly rubbish it off and render it useless within few minutes through the use of their communication skills (Singh 184). It is obvious that due to the sheer size of mass media audience, it has the capability of instantly reaching out millions of people and therefore making it a major force multiplier on either preventing or indirectly boasting terrorism activities.
Works Cited
Singh, Anil K. Military and Media. New Delhi: Lancer Publishers & Distributors, 2006. Print.
Norris, Pippa, Montague Kern, and Marion Just, eds. Framing terrorism: The news media, the
government and the public. Routledge, 2013.
