scholarly journals The Terrorists’ Best Ally: The Quebec Media Coverage of the FLQ Crisis in October 1970

2000 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Abstract: During the past 40 years or so there have been many instances in which media coverage of terrorist events was problematic, evoking public criticism and antagonizing the authorities. The paper opens by mentioning some of the most troubling episodes and then reflects on some incidents that took place in Canada, a country that has not typically suffered from terrorism. The paper focuses on the FLQ crisis in October 1970, arguably the most problematic event of all, and shows that some organs of the French media co-operated with the terrorists because they felt sympathy with the FLQ's basic premise and did not really perceive them as terrorists. The crisis escalated rapidly into a state of national emergency and the War Measures Act was invoked. Some segments of the media played a significant role in provoking the authorities to such a dramatic action. Résumé: Au cours des quarante dernières années à peu près, il est survenu plusieurs incidents où la couverture médiatique d'actes terroristes a posé des problèmes, soulevant la critique du public et éveillant l'antagonisme des autorités. Cet article commence par mentionner quelques-uns des épisodes les plus troublants, après quoi il examine quelques incidents qui ont eu lieu au Canada, un pays qui n'a pas typiquement souffert de terrorisme. L'article se concentre sur la crise du FLQ en octobre 1970, peut-être l'incident le plus problématique parmi tous, et montre que certains organes des médias francophones ont coopéré avec les terroristes parce qu'ils sympathisaient avec la raison d'être fondamentale du FLQ et ne percevaient pas ses membres comme étant réellement des terroristes. La crise s'aggrava rapidement, menant à un état d'urgence nationale, et on invoqua la Loi sur les mesures de guerre. Certains organes médiatiques ont contribué de manière significative à encourager les autorités à prendre ces mesures draconiennes.

Author(s):  
Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Abstract: During the past 40 years there have been many instances in which media coverage of terrorist events was problematic and irresponsible, evoking public criticism and antagonizing the authorities. This article aims to shed light on the intricate relationships between government, media, and terrorists. Through close scrutiny of irresponsible actions of some media outlets in crisis situations in the U.S., the U.K., Israel, Canada, and Germany, it argues that important lessons should be learned, indicating the need to develop a set of guidelines for responsible media coverage of terror. One might think that in this triangle of government, media, and terrorists the media would side with the government in the fight against terror. This study shows that this was not always the case. Résumé : Au cours des quarante dernières années, il y a eu plusieurs situations où la couverture médiatique du terrorisme s’est avérée problématique et irresponsable, suscitant des critiques de la part du public et contrariant les autorités. Cet article vise à mettre au clair les rapports complexes entre le gouvernement, les médias et le terrorisme. En examinant attentivement les actions irresponsables de la part de certains médias lors de crises aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni, en Israël, au Canada et en Allemagne, l’article soutient qu’il y a des leçons importantes à apprendre et indique le besoin d’établir des normes sures pour assurer une couverture médiatique du terrorisme qui soit responsable. On supposerait que les médias appuient le gouvernement dans sa lutte contre le terrorisme; pourtant, cette étude montre que ceci n’a pas toujours été le cas.


Asian Studies ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
Sasa ISTENIČ

The importance of the media in democracies has long been recognized. The media has often been seen as a preliminary mechanism of democratization process. Over the past 20 years, both Taiwan and Slovenia have been undergoing profound political changes, transforming from authoritarianism to democracy. This research will be a modest attempt to portray the significant role that media has played in the two countries’ democratization processes and draw some interesting parallels between them.   


Author(s):  
Subir Sinha

COVID-19 is the cause of the greatest pandemic of the century that affects almost every nation of our globe. In India, mass media has played a significant role in this pandemic situation. The media coverage revealed fearlessly the condition of COVID-19 and provides a pictorial view of the situation in front of the readers and viewers. The main objectives of these fearless journalistic works were to provide the public valuable authentic information, create awareness among the public, eliminate fake propaganda and fake news, highlight the problem face by the ordinary public, and to provide the government a medium to speak with the public for the public interest. Mass media served as a vital weapon to fight against COVID-19. The valuable information and instructions provided by mass media created awareness among the public and which played a major role to deescalate the graphical representation of active COVID-19 cases. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the dogmatic approaches of the mass media in the pandemic situation have recalled the concept of media as the third pillar of democracy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-38
Author(s):  
Yelena Yermakova

The changing situation in the Arctic due to global warming has prompted media coverage of a supposed “scramble for the Arctic,” an “Arctic boom,” or an “Arctic Bonanza.” Some even go further, deploying the rhetoric of a “New Cold War,” predicting an inevitable clash between the United States and Russia over interests in the region. The press coverage in both countries over the past decade reflects this new sensationalism. The academic literature unequivocally confirms that the press exerts substantial influence on governmental policy makers, and vice versa. However, while scholars agree that international organizations (IOs) are essential to shaping policies, the existing literature lacks research on media’s relationship with IOs, which often struggle to obtain the coverage and publicity they deserve. The Arctic Council has provided an effective platform for constructive dialogue and decision making involving the USA and Russia. Accordingly, despite disagreements in other regions of the world, the two global powers have managed to cooperate in the Arctic – notwithstanding recent media coverage painting a different and incomplete picture. This project surveys the media coverage of the Arctic over the past decade in Russia and the USA and its correlation with the Arctic Council’s activities. The analysis draws upon two prominent news organizations in Russia (Kommersant and Izvestiya) and two in the USA (the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal), as well as the Arctic Council’s press releases from June 2006 to June 2017. The paper finds that there is a clear disconnect between media coverage of the region and the Arctic Council’s activities. It recommends that the media pay more attention to the organization, particularly since it is the only prominent platform for international cooperation in the Arctic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shosuke Sato ◽  
Fumihiko Imamura ◽  
Masahiro Iwasaki ◽  
◽  

In this study, we analyzed big data consisting of news published on the web about the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake over the course of a month and compared it with earthquakes that have occurred in the past. Our findings are summarized as follows: 1) In the case of web news on the Kumamoto earthquake, the “media half-life” of the disaster, or the time it took for media coverage to decrease to half of its peak amount, was one week, which is roughly the same as that of the 2004 Niigata Chuetsu earthquake. 2) The scope of human support corresponded to the scope and coverage of human and material damage, and no municipalities deviated from this, which means that, remarkably, we did not see any disparities in news coverage or human support, as was the case with the Great East Japan Earthquake.


1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUE MAHAN ◽  
RICHARD LAWRENCE

Three of the most infamous prison riots in the United States took place in Attica, New York; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Lucasville, Ohio in 1971, 1980, and 1993, respectively. Although an examination of the three riots reveals differences in the uprisings, there are important similarities in the underlying conditions behind them. Analysis of the three riots shows the significant role played by representatives of the media both in negotiating with inmates and taking back the three institutions. In this article, the authors discuss the influence and effect of media coverage on prison riots based on what was learned from the participation of the media in the Attica, Santa Fe, and Lucasville uprisings.


2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Linda Gilmore ◽  
Marilyn Campbell

In recent times, Australian children have been exposed to a range of frightening images of war and terrorism in the media. To determine the possible impact of such distal events, fears were measured in a sample of 220 children aged 6 to 12 years using the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R) as well as a free option method. On the FSSC-R, the type and intensity of children’s fears were similar to previous studies conducted over the past two decades, with being hit by a car, bombs and being unable to breathe producing the most fear. By contrast, spontaneous responses indicated that children’s greatest fears were of animals, the dark and being lost. Surprisingly few children mentioned war and terrorism without prompting. The findings suggest that concerns about Australian children becoming more fearful as a result of media coverage of war and terrorism are not supported.


2021 ◽  

Pretrial publicity (PTP) refers to media coverage of criminal and civil cases prior to trial. Every era has its high-profile cases involving individuals and businesses—e.g., Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Boston Bomber), Enron, Timothy McVeigh, O. J. Simpson, John Hinckley, Patty Hearst, John Mitchell, Sam Shepperd, Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Lindbergh baby kidnapping), Sacco and Vanzetti. Serious and notorious crimes and cases involving celebrities tend to receive the most media attention. Much media attention will operate to the detriment of criminal and civil defendants—reporting may emphasize the dastardliness of the defendant’s actions, the effects of those acts on victims, the evidence against the defendant, opinions about the defendant’s guilt expressed by law enforcement personnel, and the like. Whenever a case receives substantial PTP—and especially when the PTP is negative—questions arise about the likelihood that a defendant can receive a fair trial. The concern is that the substantial PTP will bias prospective jurors against the defendant and result in a verdict driven by PTP rather than trial evidence. Concerns about the media potentially biasing trials pit First Amendment guarantees of a free press against Sixth Amendment rights of defendants to “a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.” Of course, if media coverage has been substantial and negative, a number of questions arise: has the deck been stacked against a defendant? To what extent? How can this be proven? If there is improper bias, what are the solutions—delay the trial? Give the defendant expanded opportunities to find unbiased jurors? Rely on judges to instruct jurors to put aside their biases (and rely on jurors to do so)? Change the trial to another venue—if there is one where the PTP has not been so voluminous or negative? A substantial body of empirical research has developed over the past fifty years that seeks to answer such questions and do so using reliable research methods.


Human Arenas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Nakkerud

AbstractOver the past decade, the choice of living childfree has increasingly been viewed as a pro-environmental behaviour. Recent research has investigated statistical relations between environmental concern and reproductive attitudes, as well as exploring the processes around actually deciding to live environmentally childfree. Based on increased public attention about the phenomenon, this article employs Michael Billig’s notion of ideological dilemmas to analyse the media coverage of choosing to live environmentally childfree, attempting to answer how these dilemmas influence whether living childfree is perceived as a relevant pro-environmental behaviour. Thirty-one news items were analysed using a synthesis of critical discursive psychology and thematic analysis. The analysis identified five ideological concepts: liberalism, sustainable development, globalism, biologism and humanism. Each of these concepts contains positions supporting and opposing the idea of living environmentally childfree in Norway. These ideological dilemmas seem to weaken the perceived relevance of living environmentally childfree, as the topic is easily dismissed or framed as irrelevant. I therefore conclude that the discourse of living environmentally childfree is analogous to how society generally relates to solutions to the environmental crises.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-46
Author(s):  
Haruka Ōmichi

The folk shamans (minkan fusha 民間巫者) called itako イタコ, mainly active in Aomori and surrounding prefectures (Akita and Iwate), are well known nationwide thanks to mass media coverage. However, despite their increased visibility, there seems to be a gap between the itako as folk culture and the image of the “itako” as a component of the mass culture produced by the media. This article attempts to clarify the actual conditions of the itako from the 1970s to 1980s, especially focusing on the influence of the occult boom, by analyzing the discourse in print media. Beginning in the 1970s, the occult boom in Japan rediscovered the religiosity of the itako as the occult the masses wanted. As a result, the itako changed from being culturally other to part of “our” mysterious knowledge. Although this involved an attribution of value to the itako, it also meant that the religiosity of the itako was turned into an object of consumption for mass culture. This popularization of itako religiosity played a significant role in establishing the itako as a part of mass culture.


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