Introduction
Terrorism as problematic and media coverage is a very crucial concept that needs to address without fear of contradiction. This is because many attackers use information from the media industry to get some information that they use to organize a terrorist attack. Therefore, this paper tries to explore how the media industry tries to explore how the media explore the bombing. First, the problematic contribution of the attack has a gruesome contribution that needs to be analyzed carefully. Secondly, the role of the media industry to the dissemination of information to the citizen also need to be considered. Alongside these, the paper will also highlight how the media should cover the bombing attacks to proactively control the severe effects of the attacks on the general public without contradictions. The comparison of the bombing attack with the recent terrorist attack will be categorically compared, and differences carefully scrutinized to avoid further effect. Lastly, the media industry will be appreciated for their positive contribution toward malice and their performance in assisting with the provision of news and relevant information useful to a particular state.
The Link between Terrorism and the Media
Terrorist attacks have been very cruel to humanity because it has devastating consequences for the victims of war (Voorhoof, & Ó Fathaigh, 2019). This is very sad, and mostly, it causes pain and suffering to the survivors due to the very severe consequences of the attack. Most of the survivors of the attack are usually left with a lot of problems like loss of life, massive destruction of properties, body injuries, and loss of properties, which leave one helpless and without anything to use and for survival. Therefore, it is imperative to note that terror attack has massive consequences which need to be handled with due care without avoidance (Jetter, 2017). All these post terrorist attacks which are usually reported by the media immediately after the occurrence to the general public and hence creating awareness of the attack. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the media industry to give reliable, accurate, and credible information free from bias to the general public to minimize uncertainty and ambiguity of information to the general public. This significantly helps to reduce anxiety and lousy omen as well as making people feel powerful and secure upon the news report after the scene, and this insignificant in controls of post terrorist attack trauma and government support in general (Powell, 2018).
Problematic Definitions of Terrorism
A terrorist attack can be explained using the bombing of Continental Olympic Park by one of the notorious terrorists in the history of the USA (Voorhoof, & Ó Fathaigh, 2019). It was evident that the terrorist attack was purposeful since things were not put clear immediately after the attack since the details of the attack was never covered exhaustively by the media platform which raises the alarm on the government awareness of the attack, also raised questions were raised to which whether the attack worth to be called terrorism attack, The impact of media coverage was also an item of discussion, and whether it war politicized by media coverage and thee b[government in charge . last but not least, the question on how the to attach could be addressed in the history of today to ensure proper analysis and relevance thus could help significantly in ensuring that the media is laying crucial role in ensuring information transfer.
Background of the Fort Hood Shooting
This attack affected Americans and Georgia negatively since they never knew the proprietor of the attack. This left many to wonder whether the Olympic games could be canceled inexperience of the attack, the government and Olympic official decided to enable Olympic games to continue to honor the victims of the attack whereby John Cushman, was the reporter with the New York Times (Geys, & Hernæs, 2020). Following the event, security was enhanced at the event by increasing the number of security officers to ensure public safety. Up to this level, the only suspect was Richard Jewell, who initially discovered the bomb. This was very unfortunate since they did not discover any suspect of the threat; investigations were made by the authority on the domestic suspect terrorist organization had committed the crime. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI could not find any evidence to support their belief. They created several potential profiles to the bomber hence suspected the 33 years old man who discovered the backpack, Richard Jewell.
From the preceding, the Continental Olympic park bombing took place at Atlanta in Georgia in the year 1996; this was during the summer Olympic Games (Powell, 2018). The crudely constructed bomb was organized in a green military-style backpack the bomb maker placed nail and screw inside the explosive with a motive to maximize the number of casualties. Shortly before the bomb denoted, an anonymous phone call was made to enforce law enforcement that an attack was imminent, thus informing people to evacuate. However, the evacuation was not quick enough as the bomb was discovered by the security force named Richard Jewell who informed Georgia Bureau of investigation, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the ballast killed one person and injured 112 other people, a photojournalist also died of a heart attack while running to cover the event. This was how the terrorist attack at Georgia took place, as was covered by the media platform, which gave out more details of the attack.
With no evidence linking Jewell to the crime after several questions, they were forced to let him go. The frustration of the FBI due to lack of progress forced them to leak information that Richard Jewell was the suspect. Thus his life was flipped upside down by being harassed and followed everywhere he went (Elshimi, 2018). The suspect experience thorough scrutiny until the department of justice cleared him in the year 1996. This followed after the real suspect was identified after a year and a half. In the year 1998, Encyclopedia Britannica Erick Robert Rudolph after linking the bomb with two other bombings. This was evident since they declared themselves as the army of God, and they targeted abortion clinics, doctors, and advocates alongside that member of the organization also committed several crimes including murder, kidnapping, and property crimes.
After the identification of the suspect, Rudolph fled to the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. This filled him being added to the most wanted fugitives, and he was able to evade capturing for five years successfully. In the year 2005, the suspect pled guilty of the bombing at the Olympics and was sentenced to severe life without patrol in Colorado federal prison. This was after a very lion struggle, which resulted in severe suffering and as well as a suspect of very innocent people who were not responsible for the terrorist attack (Powell, 2018). However, the media was deceived by the FBI after several trial and investigations which were not bearing fruits. Thus the media industry was also responsible for the conviction of Jewell by spreading rumor, and this negatively influenced the life to the suspect (Elshimi, 2018).
Symbiotic Relationship between Media Coverage and Terrorism
As terrorism attacks provide major information sources to the media personnel, broadcasting of this terrorist attack fuels information of the terrorists' information and intentions to the authorities. To most of the terrorists, a move to pose an attack is their best mode of communication, as shows the history. Indeed, World War II was a major cause of mess in diverse regions in the world, as expressed in Contested Boundaries chapters 9-12 (Fensham, & Montana, 2018). Historically, in 1939, German soldiers attacked Poland, making them gain the superior title worldwide. Consequently, the British and the French were not happy concerning the stereotype of the superiority of the Nazi Germans; therefore, they collaborated and formed one Alliance body. As a result, they attacked them, withdrawing the title from them.
However, the Americans had no option on which side to support thus the decision to be neutral as they did in the World War I. On the other hand, the German's government was not happy with the decisions of the Americans, and so, the promised to work through thick and thin to ensure that the Americans were out of the war (Jetter, 2017). Roosevelt prepared the country for war by opposing weapon embargo and encouraged Congress to conform to cash and carry policy (chapters 9 and 10). This policy worked within the lane of Americans neutrality since any country could come and purchase the weapons without any favor or discrimination. Unfortunately, they were not supplying their weapons to Nazi Germans. Instead, they were supporting the Allies.
It was not later than 1941 December, according to “Looking like the Enemy,” when the United States realized that they had been dragged into the war despite their neutrality perception. This came after the Japanese air forces troupe suddenly attacked them. It was caused by the fact that the U.S. was immensely opposing Japanese expansions in Asia. They suppressed their market opportunities, thus declining their trade. The Japanese were interested in capturing regions with rich economic resources, and on realizing the plans of the U.S., they deliberately attacked them to outweigh them. This surprise attack killed more than 2300 Americans, destroyed around 200 aircraft and damaged 19 ships. During the times of the war, the rate of employment increased by more than 30% in Japan, Germany, and the U.S., especially in 1943. The employment opportunities encountered for women, minorities, and even underage males. It rises rapidly until the workforce became a limiting factor.
President Franklin Roosevelt, through his executive order 9066, executed the Japanese Internment program (Jetter, 2017). As a result, the U.S. government formed a policy ensuring that anyone from Japan would be recruited to work in isolated camps (Red Pines). This action was stimulated by the Pearl Harbor attack (Chapter 10 of Contested Boundaries). California, Washington, and Oregon were the major military zones, which was dominated mostly by the African Japanese. The Roosevelt order immensely affected almost around 200,000 lives forcing them to migrate to other regions (Conway, & Dillon, 2019). Mexico similarly followed the criteria removing Japanese from areas like Brazil, Peru, among others. Later in December 1941, the Japanese communities and leaders were jailed and subjected to account-freeze. Those who were detained had no option but to remain incommunicado since they had no means of communicating with their families.
Moreover, Assembly Centers were established. The Japanese Americans were paid not more than a private army job. The only job opportunities that were available to them included mechanics, among others. There were chances for farm laborers in times of labor shortage. On the other hand, there was a reallocation of internees to another region to perform seasonal farm duties. This affected them psychologically since coming up with a new ecosystem was a big challenge. Luckily, some of the internees were set free to attend educational institutions.
