terrorism and the media
The twentieth century all but gave birth to the concept and idea of terrorism, at least towards America. Why was the twentieth century such a prime century to host the breeding of terrorism towards the United States? The book Terrorism and the Media, by Brigitte L. Nacos shows exactly why how how terrorism plays on our society. Our country is the leading nation in the world, this is precisely what acts of terrorism play on. There are different types of terrorism, Nacos tells us, as well as different types of perpetrators. Nacos focuses on innocent Americans not in high positions. A major point that Nacos reminds us of, is the fact that it is generally not the grievances of the perpetrators that the public is against, it is the means they use. This book was intended to show the relationship of terrorism to the media and how it thrives on it. Nacos begins with the example of the World Trade Center Bombing in 1993, the largest terrorist attack on American soil up to that point. This attack dispelled the myth that large terrorist attacks could not be staged on U.S. soil. Nacos continues, however, with numerous examples of incidents abroad involving Americans: the killing of 258 Americans at the Embassy in Beirut, the murder
Nacos argues that terrorism is most effective when the violence is staged outside of the target country. As the times have changed and the coverage of the media has grown more shocking and more perverse, so have the acts of terrorists to keep up and to keep the public shocked. Generally, when terrorist attacks occur against Americans, the public looks to the president, who is, of course, in charge of management of the situation. She acknowledges that terrorists certainly have been at least partially successful in achieving their goals and if this is true, what should we do as a society to suppress it? Many countries have enacted laws that restrict the coverage of terrorism, but this is highly unlikely to occur in this country. Terrorists must “ heighten the threshold of violence” to guarantee substantial press coverage. Perhaps government officials should work on educating the general public as to why and how terrorism works; this might help the problem at one of the roots. These violent incidents are only beneficial to the group if media coverage is widespread, according to Nacos. Tactical being specific to one certain incident, strategic are unique to certain types of groups, and universal simply satisfies both of the preceding. Therefore the media seems to be terrorism’s “ lifeblood” and “ oxygen”. This is where the media comes into play according to Nacos; The way the media, the public, and decision-makers react to violence determines the power terrorists have to “ advance their objectives”. However, with the knowledge that terrorism is simply a play on our emotions and reactions, terrorism should be easily eliminated from our existence.
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