Transcript Media and terrorism

Terrorism and the media
First, what is terrorism?
• Terrorism can be seen as politically-motivated
violence or threat of violence with the intent of
spreading fear
– The goal is more to generate widespread fear than
to inflict physical damage
• Even in the case of the 9-11 attacks, where the physical
damage was significant, the real goal was to spread fear
in the wider United States
Note:
• The very definition of “terrorism” and, therefore,
“terrorist” is very controversial
• It has a very negative connotation that will often
reduce people’s willingness to see an individual,
group or country in a new light
• The United States has defined terrorism as non-state
violence
– This officially make the United States and its allies exempt
from the definition
• However, when a country supports a militant group, it
may be accused of state-sponsored terror
What are the hallmarks of
terrorist propaganda?
• Propaganda of the deed—that is, the action itself is
much of the communication
– The World Trade Center/Pentagon attacks were not
random, obviously
• The Pentagon attack was fairly clear in its direction at the U.S.
military
– “Random” attacks carry their own message
• Claims of responsibility after the fact
• Maximum bloodshed and mayhem
– Meant to be known as attacks—secret killings are of little
value
– Brutality meant to be especially difficult for object of
attack to accept
What messages do terrorist
attacks carry?
• We are here
– Simply letting it be known that the terrorist group
exists
– Claiming importance or legitimacy within the
wider terrorist network
• You are in danger
– The awareness of the simple existence of danger is
meant to be unsettling
– The danger will continue
• Attacks will continue
• You cannot protect yourselves
– The terrorists are powerful enough to carry out the attacks
– The terrorists act in ways that are very difficult to prevent or control
• You cannot tell where they will strike
– The terrorists are willing to accept personal danger or death in order to
carry out their attacks
• They are deeply (religiously) committed
• They are relentless
– They are secretive
– They are effective
• Our cause is just
– You have brought this on yourselves
How do domestic governments counter
the terrorists’ messages?
• The terrorists are irrational
– Religious fervor represents mindless fanaticism
– They do not negotiate rationally
– They do not accept reasonable rules
• They kill innocent women and children
• We can and will defeat them
– We are more powerful than they are
– They are cowardly and when confronted they will
run
• Their crimes call out for punishment
• They cannot be appeased—they will simply
become more dangerous
– Their beliefs are contrary to ours
– Their goal is to utterly destroy us
• We have done nothing to deserve this—we are
the innocent and aggrieved party
But . . .
• We will have to sacrifice
– For as long as it takes
• We will need to spend great amounts of money to
combat the terrorists
– Sadly, this money will have to come from somewhere
• We can trim it from all the fat in the domestic programs
• It will be necessary to give up some of our civil
liberties in order to confront this threat
– Including privacy, freedom of speech and freedom of the
press
• These are hampering our ability to find and combat terrorists
• These sacrifices will make us safer
The outcome of terrorism
• Terrorism tends to radicalize and militarize relations between
nations
– Gives a stronger hand to the more extreme voices in governments
– Problematizes interactions between states
• Middle East
• Encourages authoritarian actions within states
– Is occasionally successful in influencing or overthrowing domestic
authority
– Can backfire
• Is rarely successful in overthrowing foreign regimes
– Sometimes can influence public policy, but may backfire
– Hope that they get tired of fighting
• Vietnam
• Costs many lives and vast amounts of money
Why engage in a relatively
unsuccessful form of propaganda?
• Terrorism is armed opposition among those who
don’t have the military strength to overthrow a
government or expel a foreign influence and cannot
effectively access less violent means of political
action
– Government propaganda/media control blocks them out
• Third countries may gain sympathy for the plight of
the aggrieved group
– Palestinians
– Shining Path
– Tamil Tigers
The Iraq War has not made
Americans Isolationist
A battle over the framing of
terrorism