The Media Role during and after the War on Terrorism - Research Paper Example

The Media Role during and after the War on Terrorism The Media Role during and after the War on Terrorism Abstract Over the years the media is seen to have experienced tremendous growth and it is now able to largely influence our perceptions in today’s world and society. Mass media such as radio, newspapers and television tend to dictate exactly how we interpret the world around us and as such, the role played by the media in regards to the war on terrorism cannot be overlooked. As a result of this relationship, it is important to study the changing role of the media after and during the war on terror as this will serve to enable us to better be able to understand this relationship and possibly limit or even eliminate the use of media by terrorists to promote their ideals. Introduction The media is seen to continually be utilizing a number of diverse tactics designed to ensure that is able to successfully heighten the current public perception as pertains to the crucial need to ensure that the United States continually advances its war on terror. On the other hand, in what can be considered to be a battle for supremacy between the government and terrorists, terrorists are now increasingly using media and especially so, social media so as to advance their ideals. There have also been cases of terrorists managing to obtain airplay on foreign television and radio media and using the platform to broadcast and air a number of executions against Americans (Crook, 2009). The Declaration of the War on Terror and the Role Played by the Media When the war on terrorism was initially declared after the events of 9/11, the media was instrumental in creating a response that caused the American people to come together and rally around the flag in defense of their country as well as unite behind their president’s actions. It is this fact that enabled President Bush to be able to easily pass a vote through congress for military action to be undertaken against Afghanistan (Rogers, 2013). Immediately after the Sept 11th Attacks, the Al Jazeera television news network immediately began positioning itself as an alternative source of information to the more popular American news networks such as CNN and Fox news. Al Jazeera was able to do this by providing the American Media with images that served to explain the various unfolding events in Afghanistan. According to Jasperson et al (2002), it is because of these visuals that were being provided by Al Jazeera to CNN that caused a CNN reporter to ask Defense Secretary Rumsfeld if the United States was currently striking back at bin Laden and his terrorist organization. Although Rumsfeld denied this claims, President Bush later went on record to announce on television that he had taken decisive action in the war on terrorism by ordering the country’s military to begin a series of strikes against the various al Taliban military installations and al Qaeda training camps (Hess, 2003). The prominent role that was being played by alternative news media such as Al Jazeera is seen by the fact that Al Jazeera essentially helped provide balanced news coverage of all sides to global audiences whose local stations happened to be beholden to the local governments. In addition to this, with a global viewership of about 20-25 million, Al Jazeera was the only news network that happened to have staff actively working indie the Taliban controlled regions of Afghanistan (Rogers, 2013). A CNN news reporter described the Al Jazeera news networks as being highly controversial yet very popular as it is able to tell both sides of the story. He termed the news network as having the ability to intensively cover the Palestinian uprising but also be fair enough to allow Israeli officials access. Al Jazeera could also be able to get exclusive videotapes of bin Laden that every news network including CNN would air many times over while at the same time putting Tony Blair on air so as to give the western view. Although they largely did not receive any support from the Bush Administration the growth and popularity of the Arab news networks eventually saw the Bush administration start going out of its way to give interviews during the course of the Afghan campaign and its subsequent aftermath. By doing so, the Bush administration was able to successfully use these media to explain America’s actual reasoning and its position on both Islam and Arabs and the Arab World (Rogers, 2013). The war on terror is currently still ongoing but the Obama administration no longer uses the term and chooses instead to use the term Overseas Contingent Operation to describe it. The media still continues to play a role in the war as it is able to constantly update the public as to the ongoing progress of the war and changes in government policies as pertaining to the war. Terror groups are also seen to be using media and especially so social media platform such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to continue advancing their ideals. This is as a result of social media tools being cheap and having the ability to disseminate a message quickly to a large audience (Hess, 2003). Conclusion Various governments across the world have continuously been using the media to promote their anti-terrorism policies and campaigns while terrorist groups also continue to depend on the open media systems existing in the democratic countries to try and advance their objectives and goals. Although these news media might not necessarily support these terrorist groups, they are nevertheless required to report on them as it is their job to report all the various current issues and events. It can therefore be seen that although the inter-dependent relationship between the media and terrorism continues to grow and develop, it is important to implement policies designed to limit the use of media by terrorist groups while at the same time, ensuring that media freedom is not interfered with by governments. References Crook, T. (2009). Comparative Media Law and Ethics. Routledge. Roger, N. (2013). Image warfare in the war on terror. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan. Read More