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1. Journalism & Public Opinion
(UNIT 7)
TYBAMMC
War on Terrorism

2. Terrorism
A terrorist group is one which indulges in acts of violence against the establishment
or state in pursuit of a specific cause. The cause could be religious, political, ethnic
or even economic. They believe in violence and bloodshed to achieve their goals.

3. 1. The media foster terrorists by giving them the "oxygen of publicity.“
This blame was put on the media by the British prime minister, Margaret
Thatcher. Like him, many political leaders believe that if the media simply stopped reporting
on terrorist events, terrorists would stop killing innocent people. Many times, terrorists
claim that they perpetuate violence against innocent civilians only in order to make their
political views heard.
Theoretically, this means that if there is no publicity surrounding the event, then
there is no point in terrorism. But it is not as simple as this. The ultimate aim of terrorists is
not publicity but to gain acceptance for their ideologies and worldview. If the media stops
doing stories on terrorism, the terrorists will find some other means to get their political
views heard.
Media and Terrorism

4. 2. The media make an enormous difference in the key definition of terrorist acts of
violence as either criminal or political in nature.
By defining terrorism as criminal, the media do, in some ways, deprive terrorists
of a critical element of the "oxygen" of media coverage. Also, when the media in its reports
on the acts of terrorism tends not to talk about the political aims of the terrorists, it
reduces the terrorists to mere murderers. This deprives the terrorists of a political voice,
but it does not rob them of their power to create fear and intimidation/terror.

5. 3. The media generally do not provide analysis or background to terrorist events, making
it difficult to understand the socio-political roots of the conflict and also to work toward
a solution. That is media focus more on the violence aspects of the event and miss the
socio-political cause of it.
4. There is no in depth media analysis of the impact of the acts of terrorism or terror
groups on the community. Rarely is there any follow up of how the community is coping
with the situation post a terror attack.
5. Most often sustained terrorism is countered by state terrorism. The excesses
committed by the machinery of state are generally downplayed by the media and the
machinery of state is portrayed by the media as the saviour of the community.
6. There is unevenness in media coverage of terrorist groups by different countries. Some
countries do more frequent and extensive coverage while some do stories only when
they face the act of terrorism. Like US media do frequent stories & Pakistani media do
occasional stories.

6. Act of Terrorism
US and 9/ 11— Background
Tuesday, 11, September, 2001 (morning) four planes
on domestic flight within the US was hijacked by
terrorists. Two aircrafts crashed into the Twin Towers
of the World Trade Center, NY city. The third plane
crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The
fourth one fell into an open land in Pennsylvania. This
attack killed 2,977 from 93 Nations.

7. Media Coverage of 9/ 11 on 11th September, 2001 soon after the attack
All television stations with news content immediately switched to live after the first
attack on the World Trade Center at 8.46 a.m. The initial coverage was as confusing and
chaotic as the events themselves.
Later, the coverage of the attacks one after another, which was happening after the
interval of 15–30 minutes, led the media to the "crises coverage"—barrage of
unmediated information, much of it incorrect, uninformed, or merely inchoate, as
the media rushed to get information on the air.
The networks like ABC, NBC, and CNN devoted a great deal of time to the attacks - even
canceling advertisements – but the additional time did not lead to more meaningful
political and historical context for the attack.
The most of the news coverage focused on finding whom was to blame for the attacks
and how much proof of this blame would be required before the U.S. could retaliate.

8. On the evening of September 11, 2001
On the evening of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush addressed the nation from the White
House. In his brief speech, Bush vowed to take revenge on those responsible for the attacks on
New York and Washington, but he said nothing about who they might be.
The day after the president’s speech, the New York Times reported on 12th September in its
report— “Intelligence officials said they strongly believed that Osama bin Laden’s terrorist
organization is behind the attacks.”
New York Times, Sept. 12, 2001 news report in which it says Osama bin
Laden’s hand is behind the attack

11. Introduction
"War on Terror“ is a phrase use to describe a global military, political, legal, and
ideological struggle against terrorist organisations and regimes accused of having ties
to or supporting these organisations.
“WAR ON TERRORISM”
War on Terrorism (WOT) is a global war against terrorism
•It was originally waged against the militant organizations, including Al- Qaeda.
•The aim was to eliminate the terrorist organizations by destroying their military &
financial capabilities.
•It also intended at strengthening the international efforts to fight terrorism as
terrorism has emerged as the global issue.
•With this call of ‘War on Terrorism’ US started identifying locations of the leaders
of Jihadist organizations in order to capture and eliminate them.

12. In WOT initiative mainly the Jihadies were on hit list.
Jihadies refers to militant group who use violence to established their political power and religious
dominence. The following Jihadies were on the top list of US – WOT.
Osama Bin Laden (Al Qaeda’s leader)
Aymen Al Zawahiri (Bin Laden’s right hand)
WOT resulted in the invasion of Muslim countries by US army as US began a military campaign to
terminate terrorists & terrorist groups.
It resulted in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001and Iraq in 2003 by the US military.

13. War on terrorism officially declared by U.S.A
On September 20, 2001, in a speech to a joint session of Congress, President George W. Bush, nine
days after the attacks, official announced, “The evidence we have gathered all points to a
collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al Qaeda.”
He asserted: “Any nation that continues to harbour or support terrorism will be regarded by the
United States as a hostile regime.” No distinction was made between a harbouring state and the
terrorists it was harbouring.
The U.S. government insisted that the Taliban immediately hand over the terrorists and close the
training camps or face an attack from the United States.
The US asked the other nations also to join the ‘War no Terrorism’.
Hence the 20th September is considered as the official announcement of ‘War no Terrorism’ by US.
Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. ”
“Justice will be done.”
---President George W. Bush

14. Video watch # 1
President George W. Bush addresses a Joint Congress about the War on Terror on 20th
September, 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYnx-c8pF34

15. Coverage by Washington Post
‘A Call War’ dated September 21, 2001
The Washington Post in its editorial ‘A Call War’ published on September 21, 2001 the
very next day urged, “The United States must make clear to other countries why it is
sure that al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden were behind the attacks in New York and
Washington, and it must work hard to line up allies for a potential battle with the
Taliban.”
Engagement” dated September 23, 2001
The Washington Post in its other editorial published on September 23, 2001
expressed its concern on the consequences of US ‘War on Terrorism’ action by
writing “in this new kind of war, civilian casualties and suffering probably would
strengthen rather than weaken al Qaeda, winning it new recruits both in
Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world.”

16. Coverage by New York Times
“Calibrating the Use of Force” dated September 22, 2001
The New York Times in its editorial published on September 22, 2001 issued a similar
warning like The Washington Post stating that “It is a reasonable resumption that the
terrorists who attacked New York and Washington aimed not just to kill American
civilians….but also to draw the United States into an indiscriminate and brutish military
response that might attract Muslims around the world to their cause.” Times advised,
“Washington must be smart in selecting targets and aware of the political
consequences that its military operations are likely to produce in the Islamic world.”

17. When Afghanistan Government
refused to hand over the
terrorists, on October 7, Bush
again addressed the nation to
announce that American and
British forces had launched air
attacks against al Qaeda and
Taliban camps in Afghanistan. This
action was taken in less than a
month after the attacks of 9/11.
Operation Enduring Freedom

18. Coverage by New York Times on Operation
Enduring Freedom
“The American Offensive Begins” dated October,
8, 2001
The New York Times in its editorial published on
8th of October 2001 declared that the American
people “will support whatever efforts it takes to
carry out this mission properly.”

21. Media coverage on 9/11
Media response to 9/11 with news coverage was highly patriotic, as opposed to
analytical or reflective.
Media outlets chose to pursue patriotic coverage for a range of reasons, including the
patriotic feelings of journalists and perceived expectations of the audience.
The television coverage did not analyzed nor discussed what policy choices may have led
to the 9/11 attacks or what policy choices could address the similar problem in future.
Studies suggest that the media closely followed and did not question the agenda of
President Bush, particularly the decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the
"war on terror.“
U.S. news magazines instated of functioning as watchdogs acted more as cheerleaders for
the government in the wake of 9/11.

22. Al-Qaeda
Introduction
1. Al-Qaeda is an international Islamist extremist terrorist network that uses an extremely
distorted view of the Islamic faith to achieve their objectives.
2. The network was founded in the late 1980s by Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S.
military operation on May 1, 2011, and others who were involved in the war against the
Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
3. It has training camps in Afghanistan and openly lived in the country with the support of the
Taliban, an Islamist group that ruled the country.
4. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East and elsewhere in the
Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce their version of a religiously sanctioned political
and social order.

23. Al-Qaeda
5. They have claimed responsibility for
numerous terrorist attacks since the early
1990s, including the 1998 U.S. Embassy
bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the 2000
attack on the USS Cole, and the 9/11 attacks.
6. Attacks against the United States were
intended to reduce American support for many of
these governments; U.S. support was viewed by
al-Qaeda as a major obstacle to creating a global
order under Islamic authority.

24. Coverage of Al Qaeda
1. The Western Media took terrorism seriously only after the 9/11 attacks on the New York
World Trade Centre. After that phrases like War on Terror and Islamic Terror started making an
appearance.
2. Prior to 9/11 Al Qaeda was hardly focussed on in the international media and projected as a
somewhat localized terror outfit in Afghanistan and its surrounding areas.
3. After 9/11 the media virtually raised hysteria calling for war and revenge against terrorists
which also implied action against Muslims mainly Arabs. The Al Qaeda was portrayed as a
growing international danger.
4. The media conveyed the message that even the US was vulnerable to terror attacks, which
brought the Al Qaeda into a greater limelight.
5. The Al Qaeda again came in for tremendous negative publicity with the killing of Osama Bin
Laden. Media worldwide hailed the act there was no analysis on the legal and diplomatic
propriety of the killing.

25. 6. The killing did come in for criticism in the Pakistani and sections of the Middle Eastern media,
but was never projected in the international media.
7. The Arab media gave a more balanced coverage to the Al Qaeda. Al–Jazeera aired the Bin
Laden tapes. The channel was hence dubbed as a supporter of Terror and a mouthpiece for the
Al Qaeda. The Western media however overlooked the fact that Al-Jazeera had put on air
British Prime Minister Tony Blair as well as other spokespersons of the western world to
provide the Western view.
8. Post 9/11 several Arab media outlets publicised a fatwah by six prominent Islamic scholars
condemning the terror attacks as contrary to Islam and called for extreme punishment to the
perpetrators. However in their reference to Al Qaeda attacks outside the Islamic world, the
media referred to them as “so called Terrorism.” As for the Al Qaeda attacks within the Arab
World the Arab media used loaded terms like “suicide attacks” and “terrorism”.

26. 9. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was referred to in the Western media as a “Global War on
Terror” and highlighted American victories and the retreat of the Taliban and the ensuing
celebrations, the A-Jazeera covered the human toll and suffering of the Afghans on account of
US bombings and aired footage of damage to civilian sites. This angered the US and may have
led to the so called mistaken bombing of the Al-Jazeera office in Kabul.

27. Taliban
Introduction
The Taliban is Islamic fundamentalist group in Afganistan.
Mullah Mohammed Omar was its first leader and the spiritual
guru.
It was operational in Afganistan as a militant group from 1994-
1996 after which they formed government in Afghanistan. They
ruled for five years till the Operation Enduring Freedom
overthrew them in 2001.
Its worked to enforces Shariah or Islamic law and followed
harsh rule to govern the country.
Under their harsh rule, they have cracked down on women’s
rights and neglected basic services. Taliban with flag

28. Media Coverage on Taliban
1. The Taliban has been continually receiving widespread coverage in the Pakistani
media.
2. Taliban came into focus in the international media immediately after 9/11 as it
was ruling in Afghanistan and the media highlighted the nexus between the Taliban
and Al Qaeda.
3. The general conditions of the community, particularly the plight of women in
areas controlled by the Taliban are comparatively downplayed in media.
4. Attacks by the Taliban in Pakistan or Afghanistan though are reported in the media
but do not receive the kind of salience that an attack in the western world would
receive.

29. 5. U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan in which Taliban leaders are killed are also
highlighted in the international media. However the plight of civilian victims and the
damage to civilian sites are somewhat ignored. This however is reported in the
regional media in Pakistan and in sections of the Arab media.

30. Islamic State (IS)
Introduction
The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a militant organization
that emerged as an offshoot of al Qaeda in 2014.
It quickly took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria,
raising its black flag in victory and imposing strict
Islamic rule in these places.
It was founded by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
It is largely made up of Sunni militants from Iraq and
Syria but has also drawn thousands of fighters from
across the Muslim world and Europe.
Their goal is to strictly enforces Shariah or Islamic
law.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
ISIS black flag

31. Islamic State (IS) and Media Coverage
1. As compared to Al Qaeda and Taliban, the ISIS got tremendous salience in the
media. The coverage has been largely negative focusing on the atrocities, beheadings
etc. Hence the focus was more on the organisation and its activities and propaganda.
2. The ISIS was portrayed as a global danger wanting to destroy the U.S. It was also
portrayed at being successful at attracting recruits. This proved counterproductive as
it resulted in motivating more individuals to join the cause.
3. The media also highlighted the human interest aspect like the Jihadist bride practice
for which it is reported that young women willingly leave home to become brides of
ISIS soldiers.

32. Islamic State (IS) and Media Coverage
4. The ISIS increasingly used social media to spread their propaganda. The social
media flood created the perception that the ISIS had more support and was larger
than it actually is.
5. Videos of ISIS beheadings and executions went viral on social media. These were
aired on American Channels as well as Al-Jazeera thus creating a greater scare about
the organisations. Coverage should actually be on news not on propaganda, which can
prove counterproductive.
6. The salience given by the media helped create the perception that the ISIS was the
world’s most jihadist organisation, as the media seemed to highlight the group’s
growth and progress. This image may even have proved alluring to potential recruits.

33. Islamic State (IS) and Media Coverage
7. On the contrary there are several smaller militant groups many backed by Iran,
which were fighting the ISIS, but these received scant media coverage. Whenever
there was a reference in the media, these militant outfits were clubbed together and
referred to collectively as ‘rebel’ groups.
8. The media however is totally omitting coverage of the root causes of the rise of ISIS,
the reason for whatever support it has gained among a section of the community. Also
issues like where it is getting its arms from or how is the organisation getting its
funding to sustain itself are totally sidetracked.