MEDIA: THE NEW TERRORIST PLAYGROUND The media coverage of recent terror attacks has resulted in tactical and strategic gains to the terrorist operations and cause. Terrorism thrives on publicity to gain attention, instill fear and respect, secure favorable understanding of their cause. The government needs the same media to foster restraint and faith in the efforts to fight off such terrorism publicity. The challenge is to limit media manipulation into promoting the terrorism cause or it’s method, but the limitation should not erode media freedom, a pillar in any democratic society. What are terrorist interests in the media? Media influences public opinion, so for terrorist media coverage is milestone measure of success. This perception is the bull eye of extremists. Our media have fallen prey either knowingly or unknowingly. Terrorists want publicity, free publicity not buying advertising space, unprecedented media coverage newspaper cover page with the dead, injured, Baby Satrin with bullet in the head, a woman in pain and agony on prime Sunday newspaper and documentaries like Foul Winds, Jicho Pevu, interview with Makaburi and Aboud Rogo’s son. Four days of Westgate mall attack of free global coverage is what they seek and we grandly grant them. Terrorists seek sympathy to justify their cause, our investigative journalist are dining with the terrorism ideologies. The interview with Makaburi and the video of Sheikh from Tanzania calling all Muslims to rise against infidels underlines their tactics. Terrorists seek sympathetic media personnel, Al Jazeera have all along been their avenue, airing video even before CIA and FBI. In our local situation we have seen journalists portray Somali incursion as invasion. The tactics include pictures of bullet riddled Aboud Rogos body, Samir Khan, police attacking mosques and youths being frog matched. There are many interest terrorist want but the above have significance resemblance our situation we find ourselves in. The media has become prey as they fight on who breaks the story first, and who tells the story the most dramatic way, hence Swahili vocabularies such as ‘Inside story, Foul Winds, Ghururi la Saitoti, Wagisisi la Maujai, Keche keche mpakani, Pwaruwaja la mihandarati etc’. The media want to operate within their own space any attempt especially from government is met with cries of gagging and claims of abuse of constitutional freedoms and bill of rights. The media want to air emotional reactions, anguish cries and desperation as well portray conspiracy theories and lack information from enforcement agencies. These tactics are found in Terrorist handbook. This has been stenciled in every documentary aired in Kenya. Depicting the government as illegitimate, incapable and helpless to fulfill constitutional mandate. This is vividly elucidated on the Suguta valley of death, Felicen Kabuga, Saitoti plane crush, death of Samir and Khan and Aboud Rogo, the upcoming documentary on March 4th election amongst others. Moha, Denis Okari and Allan Namu I fully support your course, the objective of truth most of the times supersedes or cements hatred, aggression and radicalization. Sometimes back there were photos of an alleged CIA operative in Kilifi butchered, graphic pictures sent through social media. The extremist sympathizers had passed the message you either with us or against us. Terrorist attacks without media attention are fruitless efforts. Media gives them playfield with no opponents and unrivalled coverage. The old saying “a picture is worth thousand words” can’t be further from the truth with Satrin’s swollen head with a bullet as the epitome of their achievement. Democratic countries and governments are fertile grounds for such terror attacks, they are constrained in their response to terrorism by having to respect individuals civil guarantees of privacy and protection from illegal search and imprisonment. If security forces disregard these guarantees, the media will certainly shift focus and publicize that fact, leading to a public backlash against authorities. So democratic governments faced with terrorist insurgencies are forced to decide what is more important civil liberties and freedom of speech, or public safety. We must choose as a country what we want. We must admit our media has been possibly infiltrated and the platform is being abused to instill fear, hatred and despair the core values of terrorism. The social media comments on Makaburi sentiments on Foul Winds say it all. The media must not allow themselves to be manipulated into promoting terrorism cause and selfish agendas. If terrorism sustains it’self or flourishes, the same freedoms media fights for shrinks and societies turn to ideological governance or radical extremism. The government and media houses must come to a compromise and develop a policy of such coverage, it’s paramount and it’s urgent. The middle ground should also not erode gains made in media freedom. Kenyan’s deserve the truth, but not skewed and subjective truth, the president must stop bluffing and barking and address spiraling insecurity in the country. Civil society should provide solutions not blanket condemnation, while the Judiciary must remind Judges and Magistrates that the small minority of extremists, bandits and common criminals do not have or enjoy greater (human) rights than the law-abiding citizens Citizen 22730996, Kamau.waithaka@gmail @RuelWaithaka cc Mukurima X Muriuki Mukiri Wa Githendu Faith C. Muthoni Captn Collins Wanderi
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 09:46:32 +0000
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