Terrorism, Coverage of

Political violence—especially its two most significant and visible forms, terrorism and political assassination—has arguably been an important journalistic topic since the creation of newspapers. News of the 1865 assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, the first President to die from violence in office, was transmitted within a day from coast to coast by telegraph, and newspapers covered the event and its aftermath for days, though more extensively in some areas of the country than others. While a far cry from the almost instantaneous, worldwide blanket coverage of the September 11, 2001, attacks, it is noteworthy for its time.

Given that they are political events intended to send a political message, terrorism and to a lesser extent assassination are loaded terms. There is nevertheless some degree of consensus about each. Terrorism generally refers to violence or threatened violence against civilians to achieve a political or social objective, whereas assassination is the politically motivated murder of an individual, usually a government official, candidate, or politician.

The very substance of these events makes them irresistibly newsworthy. They are significant, exciting, dramatic, controversial, and emotional, all key ingredients for major news stories. Furthermore, the perpetrators of these acts recognize their attractiveness to the media. Media coverage helps create the “propaganda of the deed,” as one Italian radical long ago put it. A number of media observers believe terrorism and assassination have a symbiotic relationship with media journalism. Each benefits, at least to some degree, from the other. Terrorists, and sometimes assassins, need publicity to communicate their violent political message to target governments and publics, inspire and possibly build a following, gain support and prestige, and help achieve their policy goals in the process. The media in turn are provided with a subject and story that appeals to audiences and most journalistic values.

Several key issues surround the journalistic practices regarding these events, including how journalists go about covering them; assessing the nature of that coverage; the impact of terrorism and assassination journalism on the public, the government, and the perpetrators themselves; responses to these perceived effects; and the impact of new media technologies.