NCJ Number
108700
Journal
Security Management Volume: 32 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1988) Pages: 123-126,128-129,131
Date Published
1988
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Efforts to induce self-restraints or impose government restraints on media coverage of terrorism and terrorists are based on the belief that the media facilitate and encourage terrorism.
Abstract
Despite this belief, not a single study based on scientific research methods has established a cause-and-effect relationship between media coverage and the spread of terrorism. This dearth of evidence is the result of an inexplicable absence of research on the subject. Some scholars have argued for a relationship on the basis of research into the effects of televised violence and crime on viewers; others have based their reasoning on the results of opinion polls. However, such polls probably are heavily influenced by the accepted arguments that media coverage increases terrorist activities, provides terrorists with desired publicity, offers models of know-how and encourages the formation of new groups. However, not all scholars embrace this view. The Rand Corporation concluded that the media cannot be blamed for the spread of terrorism, and other studies indicate that intergroup cooperation and situational factors were influential in the spread of terrorism. Another school of thought holds that media coverage may actually help reduce terrorism by providing an alternative channel for disenfranchised groups to obtain attention, by deglamorizing terrorism, by informing public opinion, and by illustrating the consequences of violence. 20 notes.