Introduction

 Mass media plays a key role in the formation of public opinions and reception of unlawful conduct by various members of the community. Scholars and researchers claims that decision makers, who aid news sources have the ability to form perceptions of mass viewers or listeners and encourage compliance with state control interventions (Chibnall, 2013). Some scholars argue that associating radicalism reporting with an extensive discourse of fear aided in the rise of political fear or decision makers’ endorsing and making use of audience value system and expectations on threats and risks to attain specific objectives.

With the ever-increasing incidences of terrorist attacks all over the world, the attacks triggered a sequence of experiential terrorism researches. Media and terrorism remains a vital topic throughout the study of terrorism (Archetti, 2013). While literature does not give a single definition of the word terrorism, intellectuals approve that it is inclusive of utilization of ferocity against members of the public with the objective of generating panic or fear and forcing certain value systems on others. With the development of technology, the potential risks of terrorism, increased tremendously due to the internet which assisted terrorist groups convert more members, organize new attacks, and intensify their communications. As technology persistently changes, it is easy for terrorists to hack information systems and plan attacks in various places all over the world. () clarified that technology made newer and efficient ways of producing fear, which is the sole objective of terrorism.

 Examining media and crime or terrorism is vital, particularly due to the rising incidences of terrorism (Altheide, 2013). According to American ministry of state, terrorist attacks increased by 35% all over the world in the year 2013, in the following years, the number killed from terrorist events was 80%. Hence, this paper will discuss the role of mass media plays on the issue of crime and terrorism.

 Review of literature and argument

            The influence of mass media on lawbreaking and radicalism is practical, and thoughtful attention given to the subject matter originated from the numerous past trials and crimes (Altheide, 2013). Disapproval of mass media activities and material was a familiar phenomena but investigation into the issue were rare and not demanding until the Payne fund initiated in the 1930s. Pertinent enquiries rapidly broke into numerous sections and fields and later contested with junk knowledge, as it could not amount to anything or a standard conclusion. The present concerns in the mind of members of society centers on the impact of publicity on terrorism and dispensation of illegal cases, the influence of fierce media on communal violence and criminality.

 General issues, which needs attention

Catastrophic terrorism events tend to steal the attention of the world forcefully. In case of a terrorist attack, news spread everywhere like a wild fire and the details dominate airwaves for hours nonstop (Silverman, 2013). In emergencies, most of the times, people ignore impact of the news on the public. Some members of the community may become anxious after receiving threating terrorism news. Consequently, terrorism has the potential of inducing anxiety after the media airs footages of an attack. Hence, the media affects the public after airing terrorism footages.

Generation 911

In the past decade increase in terrorism and its aftermath has been subject to scrutiny especially among children, adolescents and their immediate families. The wide spread use of technology and high-tech devices worsen the impact due to increased exposure to pictures and videos (Lankford, & Madfis, 2018). For instance, images and videos of terrorist attacks broadcasted across the world have a 50% chance of coming into contact with a family with children. Watching violent terrorism videos on television sets may upset the mental and emotional status of children, which may in turn affect their health. Some children may be a higher risk than others may.

Excessive exposure to violent images and videos triggers stress, which affects learning abilities in children throughout the life of the young adolescents (Bradimore, & Bauder, 2012). The consistent and continuous exposure to such material, mostly during a terrorist attack generates periods of trauma, which in turn causes increase in heartbeat and blood pressure in middle-aged people. When there is, a disruption in the normal functioning of internal organs, due to their tender age, children may have underdeveloped systems, which will affect them later in life. In short, millennials are

Millennials

Some scholars are of the opinion that unregulated social media and newspaper reporting have the ability to cause more attacks. Social media and newspapers report terrorism in sensational ways. Governments and law enforcers must consider regulating the information that flows through mass and social media. Millennials live in an era where they process numerous uncensored information without filtering (Bruckberger, 2018). Thus, they do not know any boundaries of right or wrong. Reports claim that social media is a tool that extremist groups use to recruit millennials and later radicalize them. On health matters, instead of connecting people, social media platforms isolate millennials from leaving in the real world. Therefore, when they come across violent content in form of pictures and videos, they develop depression.

Generation X

This generation grew up in the age of terrorism. It is an intermediate generation grew up when terrorism was rampant. Some of them even witnessed 9/11. Leaving through such era shaped their thoughts around violence as they saw it come alive in the media and even through the early age of the internet (Gerhards, & Schäfer, 2014). For instance, when there is an attack, generation X have the ability to carry on with their lives as if nothing happened. Hence, generation X lived through the terrorism which desensitized them toward the perceptions of media coverage.

Traditional and baby boomers

Traditional and baby boomers separated themselves from the rest of the world and its current affairs as they age in peace (Gerhards, & Schäfer, 2014). Their only gateway to information is through conventional media. However with age comes emotional imbalance, which causes fear whenever they come across images and videos that threaten national security.

In other, the manner in which the media covers terrorism tends to affect people in different ways(Gerhards, & Schäfer, 2014). Trauma and stress are some of the common effects of terrorism coverage. The older generations tend to use conventional mass media such as television and newspapers. No matter the source of information, the influences may not vary much across various generations.

 

 

 Ethical Reasoning

Media is a powerful tool, which can develop a certain train of thoughts and sustain it for a long period of time. For instance, in sports mass media always gave women less coverage compared to their male counterparts (Gerhards, & Schäfer, 2014). In addition, media helped propagate racism and formation of racial stereotypes through mass media tools such as television and radio. This goes to show the true power at the disposal of mass media and their ability to paint perspectives on the society.

Therefore, yes, the media has the ability to influence opinion on matters concerning criminal justice system and terrorism (Gerhards, & Schäfer, 2014). The influence of racism is deep. They infuse the traditions or beliefs and go above and beyond everyday norms to form perspectives that make people vulnerable. Poor journalism takes place when configurations of communal and governmental mass media systems discriminate against certain category of people based on the color of their skin or even religion.

            From an ethical perspective or fairly speaking out against mass media discrimination, discrimination is wrong and morally corrupt. It goes against the standards of equality. The equality norm states that everyone has a right to justice and fair treatment once they step into the confines of a courtroom, in fact, the media should stop portraying Muslim as a radical religion rather, single out people practicing terrorism (Gerhards, & Schäfer, 2014). In addition, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. In fact, race is not a factor when it comes to assessing a court case and the media should stop associating race with crime hence distorting the public from real facts. Simply put, it is only possible to vindicate poor journalism skills or reporting contrary to the law if there are facts setting ground for such mistreatment. Equality is just an empty term if not put into specific context. In the court system, equality means that people can access communal agencies; receive services and equal treatment as stipulated by the constitution. The bottom line is mass media should report responsibly, give, and account of various aspects that will help safe guard the security of the entire world.

Fighting crime and keeping the world safe from harm is one of the main agendas of the world. Hence, the citizens anticipate accurate coverage from the media, with exaggerating or creating melodrama (Jewkes, & Yar, 2013). The law does not allow any form of unlawful action from mass media outlets to take place within the community and it is punishable in court. One can receive a fine if he or she perpetrates racism. There is a broader way of looking at racism in the court from a legal perspective where everyone has a fair hearing. In other words, it does not permit acts of racism.

 Democratic Right

            Citizens have a right to accurate, unbiased information on various aspects of the community. Accuracy of information the mass media forms a platform that gives every person the chance to access information and share the received information with other people. One may wonder if the information shared was accurate and if not, what were the repercussions of the false information. Based on a scientific study and survey, 52.8 % of the internet users are of the opinion that internet has precise and accurate information (Jewkes, & Yar, 2013). On the other hand, the center of communication policies suggests that an estimated 61% of the people confirm that the traditional media is a vital tool as a source of data. However, Internet is outdoing television and other media sources of information. Thus, internet is a useful source when it comes to information. Regulating it would only limit it as a source of material or evidence. In short, the ability of an internet user to choose from variety internet sources of information gives them a chance and choice to compare and contrast whether the sources are accurate or not. Simply put, citizens can compare which media platform contains accurate information.

Regulation of information on the internet would lead to censorship. One of the pillars that enable operation of any mass media outlet is the freedom to express one’s views. Generally, technology created new ways and platforms where people can express themselves without fearing any consequences (Jewkes, & Yar, 2013). More so, there is no difference between the internet and other media such as newspapers and books. Hence, the same principles applied to the conventional mass media outlets should be the same ones applied to the internet even if some people believe that the internet should face heavy regulation than other media sources. Not to mention that regulation of data does not protect the views and perspectives. Hence, regulations serve to sieve out information, which will not improve the accuracy of information in any way and from any platform.

Realization of accurate information does not come about by controlling the mass media through redundant policies, which bottle up people’s opinions and hinder expression of true feelings (Korstanje, 2013). Accessibility to information will be problematic with regulation of the internet. The existence of numerous websites makes it hard to tell which of them has reliable and accurate information. Giving thought to regulation of the internet means that helpful websites with valuable information can be subject to banning or criticism, which makes them heavily filter reliable information. Regulation of websites with valuable information will eventually lead to hefty straining of information by these websites which will in turn cause ignorance due r to lack of information.

Regulating information on the internet possess a challenge to both implementers and internet users. The government and other agencies need to have  sufficient funds to for implementing regulations and its associated policies which is not an easy task factoring in the large scale  and scope covered by the internet. The shift would disrupt information flow in most of the platforms provided by the internet since the shift and adaptation to the new policies would pause a challenge to users. Thus, implementation of regulators around the internet will interfere with accuracy of data (Korstanje, 2013). A vital factor to note is that information will have to pass through screening so as to align themselves with the policies of the regulators.

Presently, the mass media through the internet applies mechanisms that ensure users have full responsibility over the information they creates and disburse to the public. For instance, some social media platforms such as twitter, warn users that what they are about to access is either sensitive in nature or only meant for adults aged above twenty years old. This strategy enables the users to haves total control over what they consume when they indulge the data. Not to mention that the strategy works wonders. When users have total control over what they consume, they have a higher chance of spotting illegality and reporting it to relevant authorities. In short, there should be no need to look for extra regulations outside the ones mass media owners applied. The users alone should have total control of the internet which and determine the degree of its accuracy. Most people who support the internet limitation argue along the lines that it would put an end to cyberbullying and hacking, which some merit to their argument but infringes on the right of people to get informed.

 

 

 

 

Reference

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Archetti, C. (2013). Terrorism, Communication, and the Media. In Understanding Terrorism in the Age of Global Media (pp. 32-59). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Altheide, D. L. (2013). Media logic, social control, and fear. Communication Theory, 23(3), 223-238.

Silverman, J. (2013). Crime, policy and the media: the shaping of criminal justice, 1989-2010. Routledge.

Lankford, A., & Madfis, E. (2018). Don’t name them, don’t show them, but report everything else: A pragmatic proposal for denying mass killers the attention they seek and deterring future offenders. American behavioral scientist, 62(2), 260-279.

Bradimore, A., & Bauder, H. (2012). Mystery ships and risky boat people: Tamil refugee migration in the newsprint media. Canadian Journal of Communication, 36(4).

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Gerhards, J., & Schäfer, M. S. (2014). International terrorism, domestic coverage? How terrorist attacks are presented in the news of CNN, Al Jazeera, the BBC, and ARD. International Communication Gazette, 76(1), 3-26.

Jewkes, Y., & Yar, M. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of Internet crime. Routledge.

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