NCJ Number
88998
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The author explores relationships between law enforcement and the media as they deal with terrorist actions, describing the Group of the Martyr's seizure of the Iranian Embassy in London, England, in April 1980 as an example of police-media conflicts even in a country where cooperative guidelines have developed to handle coverage of terrorism.
Abstract
The media have at times interfered with police operations in trying to obtain news, while the police have ignored the media's needs and their potential assistance in attempting to bring a terrorist situation to a hasty conclusion. While experienced police officials have concluded that authorities have everything to gain by working with the media rather than interfering with their reporting, many police chiefs still have negative attitudes toward the media. Conflicts center on the issues of portrayal and access, notably when the media have reported information endangering hostages' lives or police plans to apprehend terrorists. While news agencies have showed their concern for the problem by promulgating guidelines and sponsoring conferences to bring attitudes seem almost unavoidable. Great Britain's 1974 Prevention of Terrorism Act directed against the Irish Republican Army forced the police to regulate the media, but this was accomplished through a gentlemen's agreement which emphasized cooperation and increased dissemination of information and access to the police for the media. Conflicts still occur, however, as when a British film editor decided to interview the leader of the Group of the Martyr which held hostages in the Iranian Embassy for 6 days and British Independent Television aired live coverage of the Special Air Services assault on the embassy. The article includes 23 footnotes.