Media Coverage Of Terrorist Activities

It is clear that in the last two decades, terrorist activities have been receiving widespread coverage from nearly all media channels. While there are inherent benefits that accrue with regard to the fight against terrorism, the negative effects of coverage of terrorist activities by media fraternity by far outweigh the benefits. According to Fourie (2010), the publicity extremist terrorist views receive in countries like Afghanistan as well as Pakistan seems to fuel the vigor of those engaging in terrorist activities.

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Some media channels have gone as far as interviewing militants on location in countries mostly affected by illicit terrorist activities i.e. Afghanistan. Here, Slocum (2005) notes that young jobless youths seem to get inspired by the militants and this increases the likelihood of such young people joining the militants and hence jeopardizing the efforts to fight terrorism. This is further fueled by coverage of inflammatory as well as extremist views of various clerics.

There is also another problem caused by extensive coverage of terrorist activities that is typically off the radar. This is the effect of such coverage to nations labeled as security threats due to terrorism activities. Countries that are reported by the media as being at high risks of terrorist attacks lose out economically and politically as a result of amongst other things travel bans issued by foreign governments to their citizens. It can not also go unmentioned that media coverage of terrorist activities may encourage terrorists due to the free publicity they get and in such a case they end up increasing their threats fuelling a general feeling of insecurity within members of the public. With that in mind, media coverage of terrorism activities should be discouraged.

References

Fourie, P.J. (2010). Media Studies: Policy, Management and Media Representation, Volume 2. Juta and Company Ltd

Slocum, J.D. (2005). Terrorism, media, liberation. RutgersUniversity Press

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