Deck 4: Terrorist Violence and the Role of the Media

Question 1

Dissident movements throughout the 20th century relied on which of the following types of media?

A) print media
B) radio
C) internet
D) television

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In ______ regimes, terrorists have no chance to rely on the media to sensationalize their deed.

A) democratic
B) monarchical
C) totalitarian
D) dictator

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following media outlets have been used by terrorists?

A) Twitter
B) texting
C) music
D) all of these

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to the text, which of the following is at the center of most terrorist incidents?

A) weapons
B) symbolism
C) language
D) religion

Question 5

New media formats include talk-show models, tabloid (sensational) styles, celebrity status for hosts, among others.

Question 6

Propaganda can incorporate truths, half-truths, and lies.

Question 7

In authoritarian regimes, the media serve to promote the government's interests and often to disseminate government propaganda.

Question 8

What is the "new media?" How has it revolutionized the delivery of information to targeted audiences in a terrorist environment?

Question 9

What is media spinning and how does it impact the public's perception?

Question 10

What is the meaning, and what are the implications of the phrase "information is power"?

Question 11

Why are the use of euphemistic language and labeling important facets in the reporting of terrorist incidents?

Question 12

What factors influence the news triage?

Question 13

Should media gatekeeping be regulated in an active terrorist environment?

Question 14

Discuss what is meant by "the media as a weapon."

Question 15

Describe how organizations such as Lebanon's Hezbollah are effective manipulators of media information.

Question 16

Briefly discuss the risk of backlash in the reporting of terrorist incidents.

Question 17

How successful was the United States in winning the war for the "information high ground" in the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks? Explain your answer.

Question 18

Discuss the implications of the rise of independent non-Western news outlets such as Al Jazeera.

Question 19

What are the implications of government manipulation and control of the reporting of news? Critique government intervention in the "spin" of events by news outlets.

Question 20

How can the contagion effect become a legitimate concern to the global community? What kind of scenarios would lead it to become a legitimate concern?

Question 21

In your opinion, what kind of news reporting environment is preferable when terrorist incidents occur? Explain your answer.

Question 22

Discuss the effectiveness of terrorism within the contexts of the use of the Internet, the broadcast media, and communications technologies. How have communications outlets been exploited by violent extremists? How have these outlets changed the nature of the terrorists' impact on audiences? Explain your answer.

Question 23

Explain the central role of the media in the war on terrorism. Why is the "information battleground" such a key factor from the perspective of victims of terrorism? Why is it such a key factor from the perspective of the terrorists? Explain your answer.

Question 24

Discuss how the participants in a terrorist environment are affected by the "war for the information high ground." How are these participants affected by what is reported by the media? Explain your answer.

Question 25

To what extent should information be regulated within an active terrorist environment? How should information be regulated under such conditions? What types of information should be regulated? What are the potential dangers of too much, or too little, regulation? Explain your answers.