Terrorists' visual warfare uses the media as weapon

It's not as if such practices would trample on press freedoms. The media already adhere to a set of unwritten rules. In the Kobe Bryant case, mainstream journalists continuously refused to publish the rape victim's identity. After a number of high school shootings, some newspapers agreed to move the stories off the front page to deter copycats. In the wake of the 2000 election debacle, political reporters agreed to cut down coverage of exit polls that were suspected of tainting the electoral process. Electronic media withhold graphic war footage so as not to offend viewers' sensibilities. (That's one of the reasons given for the R rating of "Fahrenheit 9/11.")

There are tangible examples of terrorists seeking out media coverage, too. Unabomber Ted Kaczynski racked up 13 counts of murder and bombing before he reached his ultimate objective - validation by having his thoughts published in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Terrorism experts believe the 9/11 attacks were staggered to guarantee that TV cameras would capture the second plane's collision into the second tower. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh admitted he picked a government building in order to maximize the exposure. On a smaller scale, environmentalists bombed a Hummer dealership in southern California solely for the media attention. And broadcasters continue to play along, in a potentially deadly pas de deux.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have been inculcated with the mantra that to do certain things (like not shopping) was akin to "letting the terrorists win"; most of the time, such a statement is a stretch. But America's 24-hour news channels are essentially aiding the enemy by packaging America's fear to gain higher ratings. This mind-set ends up encouraging political criminals to contemplate further acts of political violence. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial page recently agreed, noting: "Less attention is what [terrorists] should receive. Psychological warfare works only if someone pays attention to it."

Certainly, television news covers terrorist attacks for the high-minded journalistic objective of informing viewers. But the zeal with which fear has been commoditized - from shark attacks to child kidnappings to the Washington sniper - is a product of TV executives realizing that frightened people put down the remote control and await news updates, ratcheting up ratings points. Unfortunately, this living-room fearmongering plays right into the hands of terrorists who are attempting to rattle every American, turning television news reporters into de facto publicists for terrorists.

So what are the broadcast outlets supposed to do?

Nearly 20 years ago, the eminent Washington reporter David Broder suggested that "the essential ingredient of any effective antiterrorist policy must be the denial to the terrorist of access to mass media outlets." He said this in a different era, before 24-hour news channels were in hot competition for Americans' attention. He's still right.

Amateur cooks learn quickly that pouring water on a grease fire only makes it worse. Broadcasters must realize that their coverage might be doing the same. Like cutting off the oxygen that sustains a flame, a few internal shifts in reporting policy would traumatize viewers less and could save lives.

• Matthew Felling is media director of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a research group.

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