Terrorism as we know it would not exist without the media. That
was the consensus at a panel discussion last week presented by the
National Capital Chapter of PRSA. Terrorism, for example, does not
exist in totalitarian states where media is tightly controlled,
said Jerrold Post, director of the political psychology program at
George Washington University and a panelist at "Dying to be Heard:
Terrorism and the Modern Media." Terrorist acts in certain areas
where there is heavy media coverage peaks between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
on Thursday evenings - immediately before the newspapers' deadlines
for the big Friday issue, so that editors have little time to
analyze events, but enough time to put headlines and bloody photos
on the front page.
While the experts debated definitions of terrorism, they agreed
that most terrorists, including and especially Osama bin Laden, are
PR experts. Terrorist groups' handbooks often include advice on how
to get maximum media attention, and their organizations frequently
include a "VP of PR."
Post believes bin Laden is attempting to reclaim the media
spotlight with the tape that was released to Al Jazeera last week,
and that bin Laden is irritated by Saddam Hussein's position as bad
guy du jour.
Hafez Al-Mirazi, Al Jazeera's Washington bureau chief, agreed
that there is a distinct relationship between the media and
terrorists, but added that the media can be exploited by
governments and policy-makers, as well. He said he was "scooped" by
Secretary of State Colin Powell on the release of bin Laden's
latest communication, and insisted that media must make an effort
to play a more neutral role, avoiding exploitation by either the
government or terrorists. For example, he objected to National
Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's phone call to network heads in
the wake of Sept. 11 asking them not to air bin Laden's
communications. But he also cut four minutes out of bin Laden's
last tape, because, he said, they included not information that was
of interest to viewers, but specific instructions to his Al Qaeda
network.
Jim Miklaszewski, chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC, also
warned against the potential for the media to be manipulated by
terrorist organizations. But he lamented that the 24/7 news
environment creates tremendous pressures for editors to scoop the
competition and generate an ongoing supply of news and analysis.
That means that sometimes stories run when they probably shouldn't.
"In an age of 24 hour news, there are a hell of a lot of mistakes,"
Miklaszewski said. "There is instant communication and instant
competition. Every time Saddam says he shoots down an airplane, the
wire services run it, and the network is running the crawl [before
we can confirm the news]. How do you control this? I don't think
you can control it, but there are a lot of professional, concerned
journalists."
Miklaszewski and other panel members, including Yonah Alexander,
director of the International Center for Terrorism Studies at the
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, said they felt that media
coverage of terrorist activity would perhaps help to break the
United States' consistent isolationism. The media attention to
terrorism may prompt changes in American foreign policy. But the
panel doesn't think the United States has mastered the use of the
media as a propaganda machine as the terrorists have.
The panel was asked how U.S. efforts to change attitudes about
America in the Middle East (including the appointment of Charlotte
Beers, PR and advertising guru who has handled accounts like Uncle
Ben's, as undersecretary of state for public affairs and public
diplomacy) are panning out. The conclusion was that the United
States and its policies can't be promoted in the same way that
packaged goods are promoted. In the words of Al-Mirazi, "Uncle
Ben's rice is different from Uncle Sam's Condi Rice."