THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN REPORTING TERRORISM: A PERSONAL VIEWPOINT

By

      ADESINA LUKUMAN AZEEZ

Abstract

Reporting on terrorism presents a number of dilemmas and paradoxes to journalists, whose responsibility is to inform the public objectively, fairly and accurately. There are many unsettling questions on the ways the media report terrorism. Such questions include whether or not the media are accomplices to the aims of the terrorists, who crave cheap publicity; whether the media are not actually magnifying the threat and fear in people in the way they report terrorism instead of allaying their fear; and whether or not the media are really objective and accurate in the way they report terrorism and in their narrative and framing of terrorists.  These are the complex questions that this article attempts to put into perspective with the aim of providing a personal viewpoint on how the media has been reporting terrorism. The article argues that the theatrical and dramatic ways the media report terrorist acts encourage further violence.

Key Words: Labelling, Framing, Narratives, Theatrical Reporting,

                   Dramaturgical Paradigm, Priming.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009, 11 – 16.

About the author

Adesina Lukuman Azeez, Ph.D, is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.

Full Article

Words: 3,330

Pages: 6

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Article Citation

Azeez, A. L. (2009). The role of the media in reporting terrorism: A personal viewpoint. Journal of Communication and Media Research 1(1): 11 – 16.