Mass Media and Terrorism: Examining the Media's Influence

This presentation delves into the complex relationship between mass media and terrorism, highlighting how terrorists leverage media to reach audiences and provoke fear. It examines the negative impacts of media coverage, including exaggerating the problem, misinforming the public, legitimizing attacks, and romanticizing terrorists. The presentation also suggests ways media can help combat terrorism by setting the narrative straight, avoiding sensationalism, focusing on victims, and shutting down pro-terrorist platforms. References to academic articles and quotes from influential figures support the analysis of media's role in shaping perceptions and responses to terrorism, emphasizing the need for responsible and ethical reporting.

Mass Media &
Terrorism

Terrorism:
Criminal acts that are intended or calculate to provoke a
state of terror in the general public, a group of persons
or particular persons for political purposes (UN General
Assembly Resolution 49/60)
INTRODUCTION
Role of Media in Terrorism:
• Terrorists depend on the media to reach their
audience
• Media appears to be an accomplice of terrorists.

Over-coverage of a terrorist act, or of a terrorist, causes more
harm than good in the given situation.

Actual Terrorist Incident
World-Wide
Publicity
Media

Negative Impact of Media
Exaggerating The Problem of Terrorism
Misinforming Public and Spreading False
Alarm
Provoking Over-Reaction
Legitimizing Terrorist
Attacks
Romanticizing The Terrorists and Making Them
Appear as Heroes

Negative Impact of Media
“People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it
frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it” – Adolf Hitler
“The news isn’t there to tell you what happened. It’s there to tell you what
it wants you to hear or what it thinks you want to hear.” – Joss Whedon

Negative Impact of Media
Terrorists are given a platform to give a
justification for committing these heinous crimes
Giving other impressionable individuals the
impression that terrorism is a self-perpetuating
act
By publishing the names and pictures of the
terrorists, it only serves to inflate their warped
egos.

What can media do to help?
Set the narrative straight
• Stop sensationalizing terrorists acts.
• Focus more on investigative journalism, and not viewer-hungry
news.
Do not give power to perpetrators
• It is important to pay closer attention to the victims than the
terrorists.
• Do not publish gruesome images of brutalized bodies.
Shut down pro-terrorist pages
• Freedom of speech does not entail to those to spread messages of
hate.
• Do not enable terrorists networks to grow.
• Flag all terror-related content

References:
• Kapadia, Aditi, "The Media Can Be Our Biggest Ally In The Fight Against
Terrorism", Forbes (Webpage, 2016) https
://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/08/22/the-media-can-be-our-biggest-ally-i
n-the-fight-against-terrorism/#
7da5d9d04d3b
• Al-Rawi, Ahmed, "Video Games, Terrorism, And ISIS’S Jihad 3.0" (2016) 30(4)
Terrorism and Political Violence
• Huey, Laura, "This Is Not Your Mother’s Terrorism: Social Media, Online
Radicalization And The Practice Of Political Jamming" (2015) 6(2) Journal of
Terrorism Research
• Walsh, James P, "Moral Panics By Design: The Case Of Terrorism" (2016) 65(5)
Current Sociology

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