The Role Of The Media Statement

The Role of the Media Statement

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

The Role of the Media Statement

What will you do if you are given a chance to save the city from terrorism as a reporter?

23rd March 2019

Received as a potential terrorist threat from an apparent police officer, I decided to treat this as an authentic source as the time was concise and many lives were to save. I immediately did what was to be done from my part to inform all the responsible authorities by releasing the information to the public. The mistake I made was that I didn't cross-check the information with other sources which was equally crucial as the threat itself was. I realized later after publishing the story that not every source comes to us reporters might be authentic as we are living in a world where little details need to be checked too before taking any action. Due to my rapid movement, the police force immediately put the military force into hustle and inconvenience was faced by many people. I want to place my apology on the public platform as it was indeed my mistake and I am responsible for creating the panic in the city, but I have my reasons for this which are more critical.

11TH September of 2001 still comes to frighten us in many ways as it was the worst nightmare everyone of us can imagine. It was the day which eventually changed the world and made our lives even harder afterward living every day in fear and thinking of survival all the time. In the past many years, many terrorist attacks have occurred in the places where there was not even a chance of leaving all the destruction and terror behind (Iqbal, 2015). When I received information on the potential terrorist attack, the bitter memories of 9/11 played once again at the back of my mind, and I got shaken that it is going to happen once again. I found it obligatory to take action on my own as a responsible citizen of the city as did what was in my power to save the city from yet another human loss. It is easy to view my position from the other side of the story but its hard when you are caught in a similar situation and given a chance to do something for the city.

The role of media is always considered sensitive and vigilant in the matters of terrorism, and there is no denying that the press was also one of the sources through which terrorism spread rapidly. However, the blame cannot be solely placed on media because media still have a lot of positive role to play as well to make many terrorist attacks unsuccessful by timely informing the public. This is the power that only media entities hold to evacuate the place of threat and make the matters easy for the military and police force to handle. Comes with the power is the great responsibility we have to perform every day as media representatives to validate every news and information before releasing the piece on air or making it viral.

There are both pros and cons of the media's role in reporting any terrorist activity, and it depends on the incident in which one gets dominated on the other. Many people complain that the media is spreading terror and fear in the country which is justified and fair too because many times press failed to deliver the terrorist activity as a "terrorist activity" but more like a train wreck or a robbery incident. Thus, this is why the media needs to understand the clear difference between everyday mishap and the significant destruction that has come to the world in the name of terrorism. The terrorism that has spread worldwide is media terrorism and will not be wrong to say that the terrorists wanted this to happen (Spencer, 2017). It is like the hidden objectives of the terrorist organizations have achieved by letting the media spread the fear in their place. It is about time that the press should start responding to the terrorist attacks more responsibly (Lin, 2016).

It will be unfair to credit the media for the efforts it deserves for the contributions it has put in preventing the damage that was expected to take place. Due to advanced technology and rapid communication in modern times, police forces are informed before time by the media to take vigilante action. The awareness made everyone more careful than before with the help of the press so that the sufferings can be avoided. The present media has come this far to protect all the people with its measures with as many efforts as possible (Omoera & Ake, 2016). With online press around us all the time, we feel more secure that we will always be informed if something happens. It's the daily second per second updates from the news reporters that make us rely on them more than any other identity.

Coming back to the recent slip up from the media by spreading wrong information about the terrorist attack, the main question arises here that what might have done if the situation could have happened once more? Looking at the alternatives available to the media personnel in the case like this, the decision might have to act more responsibly by confirming the news with other sources available. What could have done is to ensure first whether the seemingly apparent police officer is on duty or not or whether he is some disgruntled employee who is just spreading hoax? An important lesson learnt here is to not repeat the same mistake in the future as the damage of false news sometimes gets bigger than the damage of a real terrorist attack itself. The psychological trauma everyone has to go through without even experiencing the attack in real is horrific.

References

Iqbal, M. Z. (2015). The media–terrorism symbiosis: a case study of Mumbai attacks, 2008. Asian Journal of Communication, 25(2), 197-212.

Lim, S. (2016). The contested ethics of mainstream reporting of terrorism in the social media age. Auckland UL Rev., 22, 249.

Omoera, O. S., & Ake, K. O. (2016). Extreme violence and the media: challenges of reporting terrorism in Nigeria. Trans-Humanities Journal, 9(3), 127-146.

Spencer, A. (2017). Terrorism and the news media: Symbiosis, control, and framing. In The Palgrave Handbook of Security, Risk and Intelligence (pp. 443-460). Palgrave Macmillan, London.