Mass Media and Terrorism in the 19th and 20th Century - Essay Example

Introduction

One of the monsters that have claimed many lives in the world today is terrorism. The most painful part is that it claims these lives at once. I was in Kenya when a group of terrorists attacked a famous shopping mall called the West Gate. More than 67 people died in a day, most interestingly, the civilians who were outside the mall were more terrorized than those who faced the gunmen. Terrorism is defined as the illegal use of viciousness and intimidation; this is always done against the general public or the civilians. Terrorists' target places with large groups of people; this includes supermarkets, malls, churches, mosques, schools, train stations, and many more. It is always defined as a hit and run game or guerrilla warfare. Terrorism is also referred to as a weapon of the weakest since terrorists always do not want to face their opponents, the police, so they hit when everyone is unaware and later disappears. Terrorists in the 19th and the 20th century engaged in different dramatic activities, which includes hijackings, the kidnapping of famous individuals, shooting a large group of people, suicide bombings, taking a large group of people hostages. Terrorists always have a hope that they will accomplish specific political goals at the expense of endangering the lives of individuals.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many scholars, such as Malkki, have revealed the increase of terrorism activities with substantial evidence. The increase in these activities has been particularly attributed to the invention of mass media. Mass media has given terrorist groups a great advantage and has opened new and more significant avenues to do their illegal activities. Jackson has specifically outlined that terrorism in the 20th century has been boosted supernormally by the mass media. Does it mean that there is a relationship between terrorism and mass media? Terrorism can be meaningless without mass media; terrorists always want attention, not victory. What would be the point of suicidal bombing if they do not get the attention of the press? This essay seeks to critically assess the claim that mass media has led to an increase in terrorism with specific reference to the 19th and 20th-century terrorism activities. This essay gives particular examples of terrorist activities during this range and investigates how the media gave the terrorists an advantage over the civilians and the respective governments.

First, it is essential to note that most terrorist activities originate from the mass media. Terrorists not only destroy the lives of innocent individuals but also aim to draw the attention of the mass media This has aided them in their objective of causing public terror, not just within the scene of the attack but in the whole region. For example, the famous terrorist assaults in New Zealand that saw more than 40 innocent lives lost. This happened in two different mosques. The most unfortunate thing is; the terrorist had the audacity of live streaming this activity on their social media platform. They posted updates on social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube in addition to having a live stream on Facebook. The terrorists did not hide their activities; rather, they posted the videos boldly with the caption; 'The New Zealand massacre!' the video immediately went viral in both in the country and to the rest of the world and caused great fear among civilians. Why did they do this? Typically, every other practitioner of illegal activities always wants to escape the mass media trap, and terrorism is an exception; terrorists are still longing to be seen. The terrorists in New Zealand were able to accomplish their objective, causing an international terror, thanks to mass media.

Besides, terrorist activities such s kidnapping and hostage crises are always in dire need of information. First, in the case of kidnapping, the terrorists need to know the whereabouts of the person that they want to kidnap his or her activities and how they spend their days. All these essential information and even more can be found in the social media platform of the specific individuals. The terrorists use such information to track their targets before they attack and kidnap them. In the case of a hostage crisis, the terrorists always use the mass media to track the activities of the hostages before they capture them. For example, a famous Netflix series, Money Heist, depicts a good picture of what happens during a hostage crisis and how important social media is in the whole thing. Just for a glimpse, the terrorist who planned to attack the bank of Spain first did a grounds work to see what happen in the bank. The main target was to see how the bank's security systems work and how they react in case of a crisis. Furthermore, the terrorist used social media platforms to investigate and know more about specific individuals, such as the governor of the bank of Spain, the chief security guard, and many more. Social media was also used to be certain of the number of people who work in the bank and the number of customers who visit the bank at a particular time. These were targeted hostages; the terrorists captured all of them, thanks to mass media.

Apart from tracking the information about targets, mass media has aided terrorists in informing the public and those concerned about the terrorist activity. This happens mostly in the cases of kidnapping and hostage crisis. In the above-stated Netflix series, after the terrorists' success in capturing the hostages, they were quick to take to the mass media to announce their success and tell the police what they wanted. To capture the attention of the public, the terrorist needs the mass media. The media has unfortunately worked to the advantage of the terrorists, especially in hostage crisis cases, since the publicity increases the value of the hostages. The hostages are used as a tool in the negotiation process; they can be sold or released for a specific political gainDuring a kidnapping case, the terrorists need the mass media to inform the kidnapped family of their demands that they want to be accomplished before they release him or her; most of these demands are always political.

Terrorists need mass media to attract attention and communicate their intent to specific people. For example, during a terrorist attack in America by the united red army, one of their leaders stated that they were aiming to shock individuals everywhere to communicate with people like. The only way they could do this was through the use of mass media. This is another way through which the mass media is used as a big gun in accomplishing terrorist goals. It has been noted that it is only through spreading the fear or the terror to a large group of people that the terrorists can achieve their tasks. In doing this, they need the mass media; political matters are broad; hence, causing a fundamental change in politics needs mass media as a tool to gain exponential attention.

The debate on the relationship between mass media and the increase in terrorism in the 19th and 20th centuries has been a major debate. Some, as stated above, authors have been of the great support of this relationship, while others have attributed the increase to other factors rather than the growth of mass media.

Cepulkauskaite For instance, developed two hypotheses do investigate the thesis. The First urged that mass media has excellent effects on the spread of terrorism (the dominant mass media paradigm). The weak mass media paradigm, on the other hand, pointed out that the mass media has a minimal effect on the rise of the 20th and 19th-century terrorism. She however, concluded that the strength of the relationship between mass media and terrorism is based on the number of available information sources. For example, if social media is the only source of information concerning a particular event, there is a high possibility that it will work to the terrorist's advantage. It should be noted that the public does not preconceive terrorism activities, and they depend on the mass media to be informed of events. Terrorists in the 19th and the 20th century seem to have won this war of attention. Every time there is a terrorist activity, the responsible groups are always fast to run to the mass media to confirm their actions and to tell the public why they are doing the activity. This is done to capture the attention of the public and to win public opinion making the public have a formed opinion that the terrorists are right and are just fighting for their rights.

Michel Wieviorka specifically rejected the relationship between mass media and terrorism in the 19th and 20th centuries. He first stated that there is a pure indifference between the two; the terrorists are only interested in frightening a specific group of people and not the whole population as other writers have argued. Besides, Michel dismissed the fact that terrorists are using the mass media to spread propaganda; he claims they are only seeking to create fear among a small group of people. Furthermore, Michel outlined that the two have a relative indifference; the mass media is always indifferent to whether they should report the news on terrorism. This is because they are not sure of the outcome; it may work to the advantage of the terrorists. He also added that mass media and terrorism might help the terrorist to develop a media-oriented strategy that aids them to make their threats public. Michel, however, concludes that terrorists view the mass media as a significant threat to their activities. The journalists have been reported to be the biggest enemies of terrorists, and hence, as the central practitioners of the mass media, they are likely to work to their disadvantage.

On the other hand, Wilkinson opposes Michel's claims; she displays the relationship between mass media and terrorism growth as symbiotic. He brings out terrorism as a psychological weapon against the public; however, it depends on mass media to accomplish its purpose. Wilkinson has identified publicity as the main reason for terrorism; this justifies that without publicity, terrorism cannot survive. He concludes by saying that mass media is bound to spread terrorist activities since they will always be compelled to give attention to them.

To add, Abraham Miller shares the same sentiments, he refers to terrorism as 'a mass media's stepchild' that it can neither ignore nor deny. It means that the emergence of the mass media is central to the spread of terrorist activities in the 20th and 19th centuries. As long as the mass media is growing, terrorist activities are bound to become. Terrorists are taking advantage of the growth of mass media; the two have a symbiotic relationship. That is, mass media such as television stations are always looking for news, terrorists provide the story and, at the same time, benefit from the publicity.

Conclusion

The advent of mass media has come with several advantages; this includes its power and ability to reach out to many people within a short time. However, terrorism has twisted this ability to harm large groups of people and make sure that the terror caused reaches as many people as it can. Terrorism, referred to as 'mass media's stepchild', seems to be bound to benefit from the rise of mass media in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mass media is always in search of the news; news on terrorism is one of the most sought. Mass media cannot help but report on the terrorist activities; this, however, works to the terrorists' advantage since terrorism without mass media is empty. This seems to be a very complicated puzzle, should mass media stop publicizing terrorist activities because terrorists will benefit? Do they have to publicize the terrorist activities?

Besides, terrorist activities such s kidnapping and hostage crises are always in dire need of information. First, in the case of kidnapping, the terrorists need to know the whereabouts of the person that they want to kidnap his or her activities and how they spend their days. All these essential information and even more can be found in the social media platform of the specific individuals. The terrorists use such information to track their targets before they attack and kidnap them. In the case of a hostage crisis, the terrorists always use the mass media to track the activities of the hostages before they capture them. For example, a famous Netflix series, Money Heist, depicts a good picture of what happens during a hostage crisis and how important social media is in the whole thing. Just for a glimpse, the terrorist who planned to attack the bank of Spain first did a grounds work to see what happen in the bank. The main target was to see how the bank's security systems work and how they react in case of a crisis. Furthermore, the terrorist used social media platforms to investigate and know more about specific individuals, such as the governor of the bank of Spain, the chief security guard, and many more. Social media was also used to be certain of the number of people who work in the bank and the number of customers who visit the bank at a particular time. These were targeted hostages; the terrorists captured all of them, thanks to mass media.

Apart from tracking the information about targets, mass media has aided terrorists in informing the public and those concerned about the terrorist activity. This happens mostly in the cases of kidnapping and hostage crisis. In the above-stated Netflix series, after the terrorists' success in capturing the hostages, they were quick to take to the mass media to announce their success and tell the police what they wanted. To capture the attention of the public, the terrorist needs the mass media. The media has unfortunately worked to the advantage of the terrorists, especially in hostage crisis cases, since the publicity increases the value of the hostages. The hostages are used as a tool in the negotiation process; they can be sold or released for a specific political gainDuring a kidnapping case, the terrorists need the mass media to inform the kidnapped family of their demands that they want to be accomplished before they release him or her; most of these demands are always political.

Terrorists need mass media to attract attention and communicate their intent to specific people. For example, during a terrorist attack in America by the united red army, one of their leaders stated that they were aiming to shock individuals everywhere to communicate with people like. The only way they could do this was through the use of mass media. This is another way through which the mass media is used as a big gun in accomplishing terrorist goals. It has been noted that it is only through spreading the fear or the terror to a large group of people that the terrorists can achieve their tasks. In doing this, they need the mass media; political matters are broad; hence, causing a fundamental change in politics needs mass media as a tool to gain exponential attention.

The debate on the relationship between mass media and the increase in terrorism in the 19th and 20th centuries has been a major debate. Read More