Media In Mass Media

The aim of developing mass media is to improve the communication between the sender and the receiver of the message. It has changed in the last century for the better because individuals can send and receive messages in the global context easily. The first development in the last century is the development of radios and newspapers where senders of messages can put their messages so that the targeted audience can access it. (Nerone, 2006). It is important to note that traditionally people used to communicate through the word of mouth using

Over the last century, the way the world shares information and communicates has been continuously evolving. Such milestones in the development of communication and media over the last one hundred years include traditional media such as the telephone, radio and television. “New technologies have developed so quickly that executives in traditional media companies often cannot retain control over their content.” (Lule 2017). However, with the recent forms of new media such as the creation of the internet in the 1980’s and more recently social media such as Facebook and YouTube information can now be shared and absorbed at accelerated rate.

Besides friends using social media to connect with other friends or families keeping in touch with other relatives who are at a distance, in the recent years, terrorists have taken advantage of social media and used it as a platform to threaten and send jaw dropping messages to some of the most popular outlets across the nation. For this paper, I will examine how terrorists have used social media as propaganda. I will also analyze the trends in media and terrorism, and how it has provided access for the promotion of the violent messages as well as allowing the news of terrorist attacks and assassinations to reach many parts of the world within a matter of minutes.

Attacks receive more coverage when they harm or kill victims, involve hijackings or aircraft, have known perpetrators, and select targets associated with Western countries. A study of transnational terrorism shows that attacks that inflict injuries are twice as likely to attract media attention as those that do not. The attacks in which the perpetrator can be identified are four times as likely to be reported in a newspaper and ten times as likely to be reported on television (The Media’s Role in International Terrorsim). Attacks in the Middle East or Europe are twice as likely to receive media attention as attacks perpetrated in Latin America (The Media’s Role in International Terrorism). There are very similar factors that influence media coverage of attacks that take place within the United States.

Ever since the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the media’s top priority every day is covering any and all terrorism. By all acounts, 9-11 remains the single most deadly attack ever on American soil, however terror attacks declined over the last twenty years. Despite the decline in terror activity, media coverage continues to report at an all-time high. Thus, every major news entity worldwide continually provides around the clock terrorism coverage. Deadly carnage streams on a time loops constantly, gruesome amputations and gun shot wounds appear on tvs around the world. The grotesque footage decencitizes millions of people and promotes and kind of glamourizes terrorism. The tv coverage causes wide spread fear, panic, and

History has changed. Ideas and standards have also changed. Back in the day, when the media or movies showed a hint or a dash of blood, the reaction of the average person was shock and disgust at the blood and gore shown. These scenes and clips shown have become more and more extreme over the years to the level of being hazardous to society. Even in the videogame industry, certain scenes that may have caused outrage and commotion fifteen years ago are now seen as childish and may even be considered as humorous. To put it candidly, most of the mass media has been used widely to its ability to influence and persuade, to glorify, and diabolize thoughts and actions of individuals. Yet people of this generation still spend a great percentage of

The media today is full of coverage about terrorism. From terrorist threats to both unsuccessful and successful terrorist acts.

It is claimed that the relationship between terrorism and media is well-researched. It is suggested that in Spencer, A. (2012) researchers struggled in this central question. The focus upon how the western world portrays the information of terrorist related incidents. It has been identified in Spencer, A. (2012) that the fear or terrorism needs to be displayed over social media for example. The terrorist wants not just their victims to suffer. The result of the wider world and the public being informed allows the pressures of insecurity within the public perception. One quote which makes sense of this statement is the

Kimberly A. Powell in her article “Framing Islam: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of Terrorism Since 9/11” has a simple flow chart to show how the American media handlers and the incident. Frequently when faced with acts of violence classified as “terrorism” not committed by Muslims the media instead of using words like “Right wing” or “Left wing” terrorist calls the incident an act of a maligned human being and writes it off as an isolated incident Regardless of the motivations or associations the group or individual person may have. In contrast, if any Muslim commits an act of violence, it then immediately becomes to reference the “threat of Islam” to the American people. Consequently, increasing the fodder used against

The coverage following the Oklahoma City bombing is indicative of the media's inclination to jump to conclusions following acts of terrorism in the United States. For example, a front-page Wall Street Journal article reported that "[a] Beirut-style car bombing ripped the face off a nine-story federal building" (Rosewicz A1). The author's diction reveals a bias against Arabs in describing the car bombing as similar to those in Beirut, even though car bombings are not unique to theMiddle East. In a Washington Post article, Pierre Thomas and Ann Devroy bring together all the factual elements of the FBI investigation, including speculation of possible suspects. At the end of the Washington Post article there is a listing of "Terrorist Acts Against U.S. Targets", mentioning four terrorist attacks in the past fifteen years, all of which were executed solely by militant Muslims and Arabs. Why are Arabs and Muslims the media's scapegoat for terrorism in the United States? According to Debra Gersh Hernandez, there is undoubtedly a "misconception [that Islam is] a religion of violence" (17), creating an easy explanation for the ignorant American media that doesn't have the answers.

The first bit of knowledge that dawned upon me was that, due to attacks such as the Bataclan massacre, the definition of terrorism gets skewed very often. The definition of terrorism is often thought to be in direct association with the Islamic religion. However, Muslim terrorists are not only those who commit crimes and terroristic acts. Terrorists are truly those of any religion, race, or gender who cause terror and kill innocent civilians. Nevertheless, I have realized that the media concentrates on the Islamic aspect of terrorism which makes it seem as though the religion is the one to blame. For example, Omar Mostefai did not use religion as a reason for why he joined ISIS, yet many articles focus on that fact that he is Muslim. The media also only concentrates on the terrorism that occurs in first world countries such as France, yet fails to mention the everyday attacks in Africa and the Middle East. Terrorism happens around the world and that statement should be brought to

As BBC’s article, Terrorism: Language When Reporting Terrorism points out that, “terrorism is a difficult and emotive subject with significant political overtones and care is required in the use of language that carries value judgments.” The media is curbed by the policies the government has established to the reporting of terror because of the sensitivity of the topic. That issue is the fact that most news media do not resort to accuracy and consistency while reporting terror attacks. Also, “there is no agreed or universal consensus on what constitutes a terrorist, or a terrorist attack” and for that reason, “terrorism is regarded through a political prism (BBC).” This makes it difficult for the media to use precise and effective language while reporting a terror activity because there is a lot factors that come in play in referring to terror attacks as acts of

The European Economic Association congress in Mannheim 2015 likewise specified suicide missions attract superior media coverage which perhaps justifies the tactics within terrorist groups. It was therefore recommended by Jetter whether limiting the amount of reporting would result in a decline in attacks. The idea was proposed to rethink then coverage of terrorism across media platforms in order to stop providing an available tool for terrorists. Alternatively as an audience, other related harm should not go neglected at the expense of the media discourse. These findings from Michael Jetter which scrutinised media coverage, proved fundamental as media sources impended recommendations from the findings. Although the under reporting of terrorist activity was establishing to be a common approach in particular amongst news media, the reporting remained an immense concern. For instance, researchers at Georgia State University observed terrorist attacks in the United States between the years 2011 and 2015. Findings discovered surprisingly that members belonging to the Muslim faith committed substantially fewer terrorist attacks than individuals from a non-Muslim

“If the media were not there to report terrorist acts and to explain their political and social significance...terrorism as such would cease to exist” said John O'Sullivan, an editor of the Times of London.1 This is also the way many other people feel about the recent increase in terrorist activity; they feel that the media is causing it. The media is doing this by fulfilling the terrorists' need for publicity.2 Terrorists need media publicity in order to get their views spread to the public.3 Because of this need for publicity, terrorists are committing their acts of terrorism in areas where a lot of publicity will be gained; the United States and Western Europe are the most recent targets. The bombings of the federal building in

Mass media is a media intended for a large audience. It may take the form of broadcast media, as in the case of television and radio, or print media, like newspapers and magazines. Internet media can also attain mass media status, and many media outlets maintain a web presence to take advantage of the ready availability of Internet in many regions of the world. Some people also refer to it as the “mainstream media,” referencing the fact that it tends to stick to prominent stories which will be of interest to a general audience, sometimes ignoring controversial breaking news. Many people around the world rely on this form of media for news and entertainment, and globally, it is a huge industry.