10:02am

Active member
Why is terror conveyed so much more easily by the media than by the actions of terrorists themselves?

The news specializes in making fear quotidien even when there aren't bombs and murder. And when there are, all the news does is chart the spread of fear (terror) and thus spread it further than the threat would.
 

arcaNa

Snakes + Ladders
I think you have to make a distinction between the US and the european media here, the latter have been far more balanced and less prone to hysteria or scapegoat neo-mc.carthyism... (omitting the tabloids here)

also, it's a tough balance and a dilemma for all journalists- they have a duty to report what's going on, to keep the public informed, yet still they will (ideally/ethically) want to avoid too much tabloid disaster-grabbing and sensationalist stories which just adds to the sense of fear...

yes, "international terrorism" wouldn't have looked like it does today without the media,
but media in itself is not the cause of terrorism-
the reasons/mindset behind these extremists' actions are known to all, even though we do not endorse their actions we can perhaps understand, to some extent, why they are thinking the way they do-
the difference between us and them is that they act on their bitter/hateful thoughts, we don't
 
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zhao

there are no accidents
terrorism has always operated within the sphere of the media. it is not the "actual" damage or violence that counts, but the "spectacle" of destruction which carries the ideological weight.

"the difference between us and them is that they act on their bitter/hateful thoughts, we don't"

no the difference is we act on our greed for more and more wealth. and if we kill thousands of civillians in our quest for more oil, if we shut down an entire country for 4 months (venezuela), well that's just the price of... er... freedom. yeah that's it.
 

10:02am

Active member
True, I am definitely referring to US news. Fox is an easy target, but all outlets are guilty, really. For example, Fox's reporting on the London attack was largely a report on 'fear' -- how citizens would cope emotionally, how they would change their routines, how their fragility was comparable to ours on 9/11. And of course, there was plenty of emphasis, none grounded in fact, on how this may mean another attack on the US. Fox afforded me the ridiculous sight of bomb-sniffing dogs stationed at, of all places, ground zero. This is our response to our raised 'terror level' from yellow to orange, whatever the fuck that means, almost eight hours after the London attacks. It's all so hollow and reactionary, and it is a shadowplay of fear disguised at preparation.

Additionally, and most tasteless of all, was a news piece (Fox again?) in which reporters took to the streets to inform British tourists who hadn't heard about the attacks. That's the media eagerly being the bearer of bad tidings, literally spreading fear personally, to people's faces, not in the interest of bringing information to the public but of bringing candid, devastating emotional reaction to a fear-fed public.
 

arcaNa

Snakes + Ladders
confucius said:
no the difference is we act on our greed for more and more wealth. and if we kill thousands of civillians in our quest for more oil, if we shut down an entire country for 4 months (venezuela), well that's just the price of... er... freedom. yeah that's it.
yeah-
i thought that to be self-evident, but didn't want to go into a massive discussion about the damage of western/british/US imperialism and colonisation through the ages. we know this already.

i also phrased myself very badly, to make it look like i meant something i didn't.
killings are killings, and equally unacceptable whether it is western or asian lives, whether it is "modern warfare" or so-called "terrorism".


and i yeah, the media sensationalism and shovelling cameras into the faces of shocked people is despickable and insensitive and greedy- have nothing but contempt for that sort of greedy mock-"journalism".
 
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zhao

there are no accidents
Paul Virilio is just about the best thinker / writer I know on the subject of War and Media...

also started reading this little book on the Italian publishing house Verso called "In the Desert of the Real", which is very interesting.
 

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
confucius said:
terrorism has always operated within the sphere of the media. it is not the "actual" damage or violence that counts, but the "spectacle" of destruction which carries the ideological weight.

Well traditionally, but more and more the "new terrorism" seems to be leaning towards actual body count. Al-Queda not claimign responsibility for 9/11 despite all reasonable people believing they did it, is another aspect of this.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
henrymiller said:
sorry, nah, i just meant the idea of verso as italian. it's a very posh london company.

oops. I get all you Euros mixed up sometimes! sorry :)

if I could count the times I've been mistaken as Japanese or Korean or Thai...
 

linebaugh

Well-known member
Ive noticed 9/11 theories becoming slowly acceptable online in the way JFK theories are. I wonder how it's legacy will look in 50 years
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
I think once the politicization of conspiratorial thinking wanes, and other things get politicized instead, then such theories will probably be more welcome in the collective mind.
 

DLaurent

Well-known member
Seems to me there has been more 'suspect' things than 911 since then. All you need to do as an intel agency is photoshop a few pics, deepfake a video, close off a few roads and feed the stories directly to the media. I think they work very closely together but then again I'm a conspiracy nut.
 

linebaugh

Well-known member
I think once the politicization of conspiratorial thinking wanes, and other things get politicized instead, then such theories will probably be more welcome in the collective mind.
I think the politicialization is actually increasing its acceptance. Being skeptical about 9/11 is becoming a sign post to mark yourself outside general liberal consensus, drumming up talk for the subject where it might have not been there. Also gives it a less tin foil hat framing
 
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