The Media and Its Effect on Terrorism and Safety in America - Research Paper Example

The immense freedom and the lack of censorship often result in fabrication, “sensationalization” and manipulation of stories by the media groups in order to increase their viewership or readership. The same news can be reported differently by different media with different interpretations and narrations. The imagination and creativity of the news reporters and editors play an important role in reporting an incident. Instead of reporting the facts, media often concentrate on giving more colours and twists to the actual incidents in order to make the news more sensational. The collapse of former Soviet Union and the subsequent end of cold war resulted in American news organizations searching for another sensitive topic for increasing their viewership or readership and they got a new topic in the beginning of the twenty first century itself; The war on terror. Most of the news media are currently celebrating the war on terror going on in Afghanistan and Iraq with fabricated and exaggerated stories. Instead of safety concerns of the nation and the public, media are more focussed on the commercial sides of the news which is dangerous at least in the reporting of terrorism related incidents. This paper explores the effect of media on terrorism and safety in America. Current state of terrorism and the role of media Hess & Kalb (2003) have ridiculed the excessive interest media keeping in reporting terrorism related news while leaving all the other critical matters behind. In their opinion, “CNN and other international media see international affairs news solely through the lens of America’s war on terrorism” (Hess & Kalb, 2003, p.78). It is a fact that terrorism haunts the world seriously for the last few decades. At the same time many other issues are also happening across the world which need more attention. For example, recent financial crisis has affected many countries seriously and America was one among them. Even while big organizations were closing down and many people losing their jobs in America, media did not bother much about it and never tried to spent time for exploring the reasons of recession or suggesting some solutions to counter it. Terrorists like the Ladens used media smartly to keep the Americans tensed and anxious. Bin Laden released some audio and video tapes periodically explaining his future plans and attitudes towards the Americans in order to sustain the terror feeling among the Americans. Laden do wants America to concentrate more on the non-productive sector of war on terrorism. Many people believe that the recent recession struck America badly because of the huge spending on war on terror. Media assisted Laden in keeping the issue alive without losing its relevance and importance. Role of religion in terrorism In most of terrorist activities across the globe, Muslims are at one side. If Jews are on the other side in Palestine, it is Hindus in Kashmir or India. In Afghanistan and Iraq, the Americans or the Christians are the main enemies of Muslims. In short, most of the international terrorist incidents were subjected to the clashes between Islam and other religions. Muslims are comparatively adamant on their beliefs and traditions. They will not dilute their beliefs under any circumstances. Many of their beliefs are against the beliefs of other religions. Moreover, Muslims believe that America like Christian countries have a hidden agenda of baptizing the rest of the world especially the Muslim countries. In short, religions and their beliefs play an important role in spreading terrorism across the world. Options available to deter the threat of terrorism against the United States  It is impossible to wipe off terrorism completely from earth because of the multi-dimensions of terrorism. But most of the terrorist activities are related to the conflicts between the religions which can be solved if we would be able to solve these religious conflicts or clashes amicably. United States should make some corrections in their foreign policies in order to give more neutral image to it. Currently, Muslims believe that the US’s foreign policies are helpful to Israel. The suspected anti-Muslim policies should be revised thoroughly to give it more neutral image in order to decrease the concerns of Muslims about the American foreign policies. The Israel-Palestine issue is one of the major problems which threaten the global peace for the last few decades. America should try to solve this issue as early as possible, not only for establishing peace in the Middle East region, but also to deter the threats of terrorism to America from the Muslim world. “George Bush has said that the United States is a target because terrorist oppose our freedoms and democracy” (Zinn, 2003, p.12). The above observation seems to be far distant from realities. In fact in many of the Arab countries, democratic administrations are prevailing. Labelling of Muslim community as antidemocratic will never help America to explore the actual reasons of terrorism. Strategies needed to reduce media’s effect on the worldview of terrorism  Raphael F. Perl, Specialist in International Affairs Foreign Affairs and National Defence Division, has blamed the governments and media for intensifying terrorism. In his opinion, media reports terrorism often in different and competing angles. “Such perspectives drive behavior during terrorist incidents--often resulting in both tactical and strategic gains to the terrorist operation and the overall terrorist cause” (Perl, 1997). Media should give more focus on solving issues rather than complicating it. Media should remember that while spreading exaggerated and manipulated stories, they might be benefitted; but the terrorists may gain undue advantages and the threat against the peaceful life of innocent people may also increase along with that. Controlled censorship of media is necessary to prevent them from reporting sensitive topics or fabricating stories. The absolute freedom enjoyed by the American media should be regulated. Stern actions should be taken against media which spreads fabricated or exaggerated stories. In Bio Whittaker’s (2010) opinion, censorship of media might “prevent violence by stopping the broadcast of events, which might trigger it” (Whittaker, 2010). Ultimate effect of media on terrorism Nowadays, all TV channels and newspapers are flooded with the news of suicide attacks and bomb blasts across the world. The most harmful thing is the coverage of such incidents by international and local media. They pose a serious threat to the overall economic and political situation of the countries affected by terrorism and extremism. Because of extensive media coverage (The Media & TerrorismIs media coverage of terrorist activities responsible for spreading terror?, 2007) Media has definite role in preventing or spreading the terrorism across the world. The external world knows about the incidents happening across the world through media. People may not get enough opportunities to explore the evidences of the media reports; they have only the option of trusting the media. It is a fact that teenagers are extensively used by the terrorist organizations for suicide bomber attacks. These teenagers are getting inspirations from the television news and interviews of heroic activities of terrorists. Hero worshiping and imitation is a teenage character. They like to achieve fame and for that purpose they are ready to do anything because of their incapability of segregating between good and evil. Conclusions Media can influence human life in many ways. People are getting awareness about the global and domestic incidents through different types of media. In order to increase their viewership or readership, media often spread fabricated and exaggerated stories. Terrorism is one topic which is celebrated by media. Manipulations of news related to terrorism may help the terrorists rather than the public and hence media should exhibit more responsibility while reporting terrorism related news. References 1. Hess, S. & Kalb, M.L. (2003). The Media and the War on Terrorism. Publisher: Brookings Institution Press (July 2003) 2. Perl, R.F. (1997). TERRORISM, THE MEDIA, AND THE GOVERNMENT: PERSPECTIVES, TRENDS, AND OPTIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/crs-terror.htm 3. The Media & TerrorismIs media coverage of terrorist activities responsible for spreading terror? (2007). Retrieved from http://www.modernghana.com/news/140142/1/the-media-terrorismis-media-coverage-of-terrorist-.html 4. Whittaker, B. (2010). Pros and Cons of Censorship. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-censorship.html 5. Zinn, H. (2003). Terrorism and War (Open Media Pamphlet. Publisher: Open Media; 1st edition (July 1, 2003) Read More