Help Of The Media example essay topic

6 April 2002 DO THE MEDIA ENCOURAGE TERRORISM The news media of American society does not encourage terrorism. The only thing that the media encourages is knowledge of what is going on around the world. Unfortunately, some terrorist organizations use the news media to gain recognition for their groups causes and goals. Most of the time, the media will serve as force to gain citizen support for the government's actions against a terrorist movement. The only problem with having the freedom of press that the United States enjoys is that everyone has a voice. When it comes down to an American killing an American, the media is not allied with the terrorist.

In many cases the television and newspaper crews serve to work directly against the militia organization. Americans do not like to see fellow citizens die at the hands of a terrorist, especially by an American terrorist. Timothy McVeigh, probably unknowingly, helped in decreasing the number of American terrorist (Grosscup, 117). McVeigh's act, bombing the Murray building in Oklahoma City, was seen as so repulsive that many law-abiding people attracted to militias simply walked away.

The majority of Americans didn't want to be associated with anything like the killing of 168 Americans, even though McVeigh had only attended a few militia meetings. The media coverage for the bombing in 1995 gave the American public the education needed to assess what was going on in the militant organizations across the United States. The education of American citizens is an invaluable tool that is channeled through the media for the benefit of all citizens. With the help of the media, the people get all of the facts and are able to form their own opinion about what is going on, who is responsible for events, and how future events can be avoided.

Explaining how future events can be avoided is beneficial if the government is planning on implementing new policies to thwart future events. Terrorism existed before the modern day media was even able to cover its story and will continue whether the media covers it today or not. Another tool that the government uses against terrorism is to build the story and to convey the crisis situation to the American people (Bender, 109). This explanation gives more information to the American people other than just the terrorist's goals or opinions. The real story behind most right-wing movements is exposed during the media shakedown, and when the citizens of the United States are enlightened, they are more inclined to support government policy. In my opinion the best way to combat terrorism is through the usage of the rights to freedom of press.

Granted there is no one-way to dismantle all terrorist organizations overnight, but through education; the majority of the militant operations can be exposed, divided, and dealt with under control of the judicial system. The media of the United States does not encourage terrorism it merely reports it.

Bibliography

Bender, David. CURRENT CONTROVERSIES: URBAN TERRORISM. San Diego, CA: Green haven, 1996.
Grosscup, Beau. THE NEWEST EXPLOSIONS OF TERRORISM. Far Hills: New Horizons, 1998.