The purpose of television, radios, and print news media is to disseminate information. Drama is the means used to attract viewers, listeners, and readers. Media sponsors like drama because it means more viewers will be taken by all the advertising. Early scholars have said that terrorism is a subject that is made for television drama, and radios and newspapers also cover it. Reporting perspectives have increased as new media outlets have been introduced to the non-Western world. These new media outlets have not only covered the drama but also added their own interpretations to their stories. Because of this modern terrorism has become a media phenomenon.
Terrorism involves symbolic communication which is usually aimed at an audience instead of their immediate victims of violence. According to Alex Schmid and Albert Jongman terrorism is a message generator, a method of communicating certain events. Because terrorism is such an effective communicating device, governments sometimes respond by trying to send their own message through the media. Jonathan White believes that communication develops in three primary manners. The first manner is in the reporting of terrorist events. Media exposure magnifies events and campaigns, and in return both terrorists and governments try to manipulate reports so that they are seen in the good light. The second manner is that the media plays a major role in creating the social definition of terrorism. These ideas that events that are depicted in the media assist in defining terrorism and also have society believe that they are “evil” by putting a negative stigma. The third manner of communication is that the World Wide Web has become a conduit for propaganda and ways for people to interact with each other. The media plays a key role in not only serving as a conduit but also changing societal perceptions about terrorism.
To further understand the complex relationship between terrorism and media, scholars believe that the way the media delivers news is through different frames. These news frames are assembled words and pictures that create a pattern surrounding an event. Television and other media outlets spin events so that it can be translated in the understanding of pop culture according to Jonathan White. The media takes events and create stories in order for the general public understand and also be interested. Benjamin Barber believes that the media sustains itself by one overriding factor, which is entertainment. The news is not geared towards the depth of any event, but rather it is designed to create revenue at the expense of entertaining the general public.
There have been several studies done that show that there is a close relationship between terrorism and television. Yassen Zassoursky has stated that television and the internet give terrorists an immediate international audience. Most news that is covered by television is news that will keep the audience emotionally attached and dramatic. Because of this, terrorism is very dramatic and easily fit into the purpose of television. Jonathan White states, “The growth of media outlets and competing perspectives has had a huge impact on the way the United States is viewed around the world, and this impact extends to perceptions of terrorism and America
The media plays a key role in our daily lives. I’m sure that none of us can say that a day doesn’t go by that we don’t either watch television, read the newspaper, listen to the radio, or get on the World Wide Web. Terrorism has become the new modern phenomenon of the media, because it not only creates drama but also draws the attention of everyone worldwide. It can be said that terrorism has existed since the beginning of time, but people didn’t really pay much attention to it because it was seen as the norm for some to act out. We can see that the media has slowly crept into society and become a primary outlet of information nationwide. In the past certain terrorist acts were covered in the news, but after the 9/11attacks the media served as a major informational source that fueled a change of societal opinions of the citizens of the United States United States United States would view other nations such as the Middle East as hostile?
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