The media coverage of terrorism and the ethical responsibility of the journalists

Abstract

The phenomenon of terrorism has undoubtedly existed for a long time, but today it is one of the most discussed issues for two reasons: firstly due to the presence of events of this kind, and secondly because of the massive and extremely incisive media coverage that terrorists receive from our media. In this project i aimed to deepen understanding of the latter. The initial objective of this study was to analyze, in light of the most recent events, the relationship between Western media and Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. I aimed to see how the media coverage of this phenomenon takes place, taking some recent news articles as examples. This topic led me to reflect about the concept of terrorism itself, including its evolution and the way in which the terrorists communicate. Subsequently, I changed my point of view: the media-terrorism relationship was then observed from the media's perspective. I thus thought about how the media coverage of these events takes place and what role the journalist plays today. Furthermore, I dedicated a large space to an ethical question that had emerged after the release of violent videos and images of beheadings by ISIS: to “censor or inform?” This question has divided public opinion, between those who defend the right of information without any limitation and those who support the need to apply a filter on shareable information. The final consideration that was discussed is that the current role of journalists has been made even more difficult due to two factors: the emergence of new technology and the fact that - more than ever before - they are given a greater responsibility and require greater amount of common sense when reporting news.