Terrorism and the Media

Paper Summary:

The paper explains the media's direct or indirect role in spreading the message of revolutionaries. The paper discusses the Vietnam War era and focuses on the Weather Underground anti-war group that received indirect negative media coverage since they were seen as dangerous and irrational radicals. The paper shows how the Weather Underground's efforts to end the war tended to be counterproductive, because their radicalism discredited the entire anti-war movement at a time when it needed to gain support from average Americans, not alienate them.

From the Paper:

"In order to recruit members and intensify pressure on the government, revolutionary movements need to spread their message of resistance to the public at large, either directly through the media, or indirectly, by taking action against the government so the media will be compelled to cover it in newspaper accounts or radio and television news broadcasts. During the Vietnam War era, the most prevalent approach adopted by anti-war organizations was indirect use of the media by staging huge demonstrations and rallies, which the media would be compelled to cover."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brooks, Thomas. (March 15, 1970). "USA 1970: The Radical Underground Surfaces With a Bang." The New York Times.
• Franks, Lucinda. (March 20, 1975)."From the Underground, A New Magazine."The New York Times.
• Howe, Irving. (April 12, 1970). "Political Terrorism: Hysteria on the Left."The New York Times.
• Kifner, John. (October 13, 1969). "Radicals Detect Gain in Chicago Strife."The New York Times.
• Leeman, Richard W. (1991). The Rhetoric of Terrorism and Counterterrorism. New York: Greenwood Press.

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