JOUR 200November 13, 2012

Philip merrill college of journalismUniversity of maryland

s. oates

Terrorism, the ‘Oxygen of Publicity’ and the Politics of

Fear1

Important: Switch in reading for Nov. 20th!

Read CHAPTER 3 of Hanson. The syllabus says Chapter 11, which we’ve already done and isn’t about the topic of the class anyway (the news biz/entrepreneurial trends)

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Oxygen of Publicity: Useful or confusing concept?

If terrorists are deprived of what Margaret Thatcher called “the oxygen of publicity,” are they in fact denied part of their victory in a campaign of terror? Alternatively, if a public is poorly informed about either the political agenda of terrorists or their actual threat, are citizens left without both political knowledge and critical safety information?

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Classic dilemmas of reporting on terrorist acts

Do news reports encourage or cause terrorism? Would terrorism decline if the media ignored events? Should media coverage of an event be delayed and in

what circumstances? What has changed post 9/11?What have we learned from the British experience in

Northern Ireland or about terrorism coverage that is not in the United States?

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The limits of ‘terrorism’ and the media

Is terrorism an extreme form of PR or is it qualitatively different? Example: misreporting of side-effects of smoking etc –tobacco companies in the same league as terrorists? Are media complicit in state or corporate terrorism? Can you only be a terrorist if you wear a mask and carry a bomb?

Is terrorism just ‘armed propaganda’? Can you talk about ‘terrorism’ and ‘media’ in useful

fashion generically?What does terrorism suggest about the overall power

of the media? Why is terrorism covered differently in different countries and why does this matter?

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Points to consider

What is the difference between a ‘freedom fighter’ and a ‘terrorist’?

Like war reporting, coverage of terrorism tends to focus on the immediate news rather than delve into the causes of political violence.

The media can exacerbate the political situation by either demonizing particular political forces or failing to include them in political dialogue.

Evidence from the United Kingdom suggests that terrorism can be alleviated, to a degree, by the encouragement of dialogue between entrenched enemies via the media. Evidence from Russia shows how poor media management can make everything worse.

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Student presentations

K. Turner: Journalists’ Fear in the Aftermath of 9/11

Suitts: American media coverage of terrorism

Morris: Death of Osama bin Laden

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Journalists’ Fear in the Journalists’ Fear in the Aftermath of 9/11Aftermath of 9/11

By: Kim Turner

• As attack was occurring, journalists from all television stations and other types of media successfully kept America updated on the attack.

• Sawyer and Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America

• Updated citizens every chance they could

• Second plane hitting the tower was caught live on the news.

• Did the media exaggerate the threat of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda?

• US paranoia surrounding possible future terrorist activity in the Middle East

• Intrusive security measures at airports, multi-billion dollar security industry – survive on fear of American people

• After 9/11, Al Qaeda terrorists were known of world-wide

• The phrase “linked to Al Qaeda” became a journalistic mantra, but public did not know what this meant (pledge allegiance to bin Laden, share hatred towards America?)

• Caused unnecessary panic, as anything that was said to be related to Al Qaeda frightened people

• As American citizens, we depend on journalists to report on the facts and leave their own emotions out of it.

• This being said, is it ever okay for journalists to let their own fears and emotions be shown, especially in the wake of national disaster? Could this ever actually be beneficial to the transmission of the news?

BibliographyBibliography

• As It Happened: ABC News Coverage of 9/11 Attacks. ABC Action News. N.p., 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/as-it-happened

• Bonner, Raymond. "The Media and 9/11: How We Did." Atlantic 9 Sept. 2011: n. pag. Print.

• Kurtzleben, Danielle. "Journalists Remember 9/11." US News 9 Sept. 2011: n. pag. Print.

• Youngblood, Steven L. "Post 9-11, Media Embrace Conflict, Shun Peace Journalism." Peace and Collaborative Development Network. N.p., 9 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.

American Media’s Coverage of Terrorism

Phillip Suitts

Generalizations about coverage of terrorism

• Initially news networks show picture of destruction caused by the act of terrorism with a voiceover either from the anchor or someone at the scene

• Coverage then moves to showing pictures of the dead and injured

• Conspiracy theories

• Warning signs that media always hypes up after the fact

Videos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfYQAPhjwzA

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2t6bNXbVZ4

(start at :40 mark)

Domestic vs. Foreign

• Many times domestic terrorism isn’t reported on or initially blamed on foreigners

• Journalists initially blamed the Oklahoma City bombing on Middle Eastern terrorists

• Just hours after the explosion without any real evidence CBS News' Jim Stewart said “The betting here is on Middle East terrorists.”

• Mainstream media didn’t suspect the militia movement, which was responsible for the attack, and gave them airtime to defend themselves

Post 9/11

• Between 2001 and 2009 there were 91 instances of domestic terrorism in the United States, while there were 380 foreign terrorist attacks

• Foreign attacks covered far more than domestic terrorism

• Spokane incident on MLK day in 2011 vs. Time Square bomb

Question time

• Do you think the media is biased in their presentation of domestic vs. foreign terrorism?

• Is so, are they justified?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYmK19-d0U&feature=player_embedded

• The details of the raid at first were very unclear

• The Navy SEALS who completed the mission were not identified (for their safety)

• False images of Osama bin Laden’s body began to surface on the Internet

• The use of computer simulated videos of the event

• Images of the compound after the raid

• Here is a clip of an ABC newscast:• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA4enAfq

8zs

• “Mark Owen”, one of the Navy SEALS, (his name has been changed) recently did an interview with 60 Minutes regarding the raid.

• “Owen’s” appearance has been altered by 4 hours of make up and his voice has also been altered.

• But, a small cable news channel has learned word of “Owens” real name and released it.

• 60 Minutes explained they would not reveal his real name in order to protect this safety.

• Would you as a journalists release “Owen’s” name to the public?

• How do you believe the media reflected the feelings of the American people after such an historic event?

Classic dilemmas of reporting on terrorist acts

Do news reports encourage or cause terrorism? Would terrorism decline if the media ignored events? Should media coverage of an event be delayed and in

what circumstances? What has changed post 9/11?

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Crime vs terror?

Iyengar’s study of television news coverage of terrorism in the late 1980s:

74% of all news stories on terrorism consisted of live reports of some specific terrorist act, group, victim, or event

26% consisted of reports that discussed terrorism as a general political problem” (Iyengar 1991)

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Journalistic duty

Libertarian• Inform public • Keep up with

competitors • Uphold sense of national

identity/pride• Define friends and

enemies • Work within existing

frame/understanding of society

• Tell the truth?

Socially responsible • Inform public• Support sense of public

order, civil sphere• Uphold sense of national

identity/pride• Define friends and

enemies • Work within existing

frame/understanding of society

• Protect public from damaging information that could cause unrest or violence

• Tell the truth?

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Mogensen

We do in fact consider public enlightenment to be a forerunner for justice and a foundation for democracy. However, during terror attacks such as those on September 11, 2001, democracy may paradoxically be better protected by socially responsible moral principles and standards of practice even though this could mean that the public will not be presented with all the inflammatory statements and graphic visuals that are available to the networks. The reason for this is that sad, fearful and angry people might turn to violence (Neal, 1998), which again could be harmful to democracy.

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Mogensen on knowing/not knowing

Americans were glued to their TV screens during the first days after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001 ... many reacted to the events with strong negative feelings such as fear, depression and anger

However, during a national crisis it is extremely important that each individual is able to make rational decisions regarding his or her own security.

From a first-aid perspective, the challenge for national television is to provide coverage that at the same time stimulates rational thinking and limits the negative stimulus of the feelings and senses.

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Mogensen: TV to freak out or calm the public?

Studies found that there was a connection between the amount of television viewing and negative reactions to the attacks

BUT not clear if an extensive amount of television viewing raised the level of psychological anxiety symptoms or if extensive television helped people ‘handle’ their anxiety through information and as a kind of therapy

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Mogensen: How journos saw themselves

We were fulfilling in a very fundamental way a national service. (Slavin, 2002)

You were doing an important public service. (Rosen, 2002) It hits home what a public service it really is. (Wald, 2002) We worked together in the sense of public interest. (Dembo,

2002) It was very public service oriented. (Falconer, 2002) We really could act in the public interest. (Smith, 2002) We were really a part of the fabric of the society. (Murphy,

2002)

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Terrorism as ‘crime’

McDonald and Lawrence find that 9/11 coverage followed classic TV ‘crime’ script:

1. Crime is announced, described in some detail2. Live footage + eyewitness testimony

3. Potential/known perpetrators, law enforcement efforts to catch them

Generally focuses on violent crime, relies on familiar set of actors (victims, loved ones, criminals, and police). Script elevates drama while suggesting the promise of a satisfying closure, made true by episodic quality of coverage

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Questions that weren’t asked (McDonald and Lawrence)

Much of the discourse focused on the simple questions of who was to blame (people such as Osama bin Laden, organisations such as al-Qaeda, or countries such as Iraq) and how quickly the United States should retaliate (in other words, how much proof of blame would be required before US should strike).

As in most crime reporting, larger questions were rarely asked: Why do certain groups resort to such unthinkable violence? Do the terrorists have a meaningful base of political support? What policy choices might address the problem?

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Just as crime script coverage leaves the public unable to think critically and holistically about the problem of crime, so, too, might this crime script coverage of the attacks of September 11th have primed Americans to look for easy answers and quick resolution of the terrorism problems. It also encourages Americans to think of all ‘terrorists’ in the same way, when in fact ‘terrorists’ are diverse as the causes, peoples or nations they purport to represent

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Hutcheson et al.

Analyzes Time and Newsweek magazines for 5 weeks after 9/11

Government, military officials consistently emphasized American core values and themes of U.S. strength and power while simultaneously demonizing the “enemy”

Journalists closely paralleled these nationalist themes in their language

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Hutcheson et al. Why did US journalists parallel nationalistic language of leaders after 9/11?:

1. Journalists have patriotic feelings2. Media relied heavily on government officials

as sources, no party split, unity among U.S. political leaders

3. Pro-American coverage appropriate, necessary to attract readers/viewers.

4. Led to easy passage of US Patriots Act, restriction of civil liberties

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Findings about 9/11 coverage

Entman (2003): President Bush’s initial frame for the attacks overwhelmingly dominated the news, using the ‘familiar enemies’ for the ‘war on terror’

Entman, R.M. (2003) ‘Cascading Activation: Contesting the White House’s Frame after 9/11. Political Communication 20 pp.415-432

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Entman/Cascading Activation theoryPresident Bush’s initial frame for the attacks of

September 11, 2001, overwhelmingly dominated the news

‘Cascading activation’ model: interpretive frames activate and spread from top level of stratified system – White House to non-administrative elites to news organizations to their texts to the public. Some interpretations feed back from lower to higher levels, but most movement is top down (like a waterfall or cascade)

Article explores the frame challenge mounted by two journalists (Seymour Hersh at The New Yorker and Thomas Friedman at the NYT) who tried to shift focus from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia

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Hewitt: Variations in framing of terrorists by country

Unevenness in coverage of terrorist groups by country. German media have “exaggerated the dangers of terrorism and

supported government countermeasures wholeheartedly” Italy: coverage of terrorism changed significantly in 1970s, as a

tolerance for the Red Brigade as a type of modern Robin Hoods gave way to “virtually unanimous” condemnation of terrorism in wake of escalating assaults and violence (pp. 174-5)

Hewitt cites bias and unfairness in coverage of terrorists in democratic countries, particularly by the British media in Northern Ireland.

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Hewitt, Christopher. 1992. Public’s Perspective. In David L. Paletz and Alex P. Schmid. Terrorism and the Media.

London: SAGE Publications.

The cross-national variation in public attitudes is suggestive. To what extent does it reflect experience with terrorism and to what extent is it a result of differences in how the media portray terrorism?”

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Hewitt: Personal experience and feelings about ‘terrorism’

“Terrorist” not necessarily negative term for all audiences -- up to 95 percent of Palestinians had a positive view of the PLO “terrorists”, in South Africa only 38 percent of blacks had a positive image of the ANC terrorists.

Research cited by Hoffman suggests level of support respondents in various countries felt for terrorists was much more closely linked to their own proximity to terrorist attacks rather than media coverage of terrorism – i.e. the public respond more intensely and more emotively when terrorism ceases to be abstract and becomes concrete.

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Sources

Hewitt, Christopher. 1992. Public’s Perspective. In David L. Paletz and Alex P. Schmid. Terrorism and the Media. London: SAGE Publications.

Entman, R.M. (2003) ‘Cascading Activation: Contesting the White House’s Frame after 9/11. Political Communication 20 pp.415-432

Iyengar, Shanto. 1991. Is Anyone Responsible? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Barnett, B., Reynolds, A., Roselle, L., & Oates, S. (2007). Journalism & Terrorism Across the Atlantic: A Qualitative Content Analysis of CNN and BBC Coverage of 9/11 and 7/7. Paper prepared for the International Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Washington, D.C.

Mogensen, Kirsten. 2008. Television journalism during terror attacks, Media, War & Conflict 1, pp. 31-49.

McDonald, Ian R. and Regina G. Lawrence. 2004. Filling the 24x7 News Hole: Television News Coverage Following September 11th. Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, USA.

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