Who are terrorists? Who are we fighting against? What are they trying to achieve? Though we know the government has launched the war on terror, we do not know much about them. Most of us do not know such core information. So what makes us unable to obtain it? Why are we unaware of who they are, what they are fighting for, and their purposes? Media has a significant role in shaping how we understand, feel and think about terrorists and terrorism itself. However, the variations in information reported by the media causes us to have inconsistent views regarding terrorism. They also use graphics to make the incident dramatized which would lead viewers to have distorted perception as well.
On September 25, 2011, the American embassy and related buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan were attacked by the Taliban. The incident was covered by media internationally, including The New York Times, MSN Sankei News (a website operated by MSN Japan and Sankei Shinbun, a Japanese-nationwide daily newspaper) and Aljazeera. Surprisingly, all three of them reported the incident in different ways.
The New York Times said it was done by the Taliban to show their ability to “terrify the population, dominate the media, and overshadow the West’s assertions that the Afghan government…will soon be able to handle the insurgency on their own” (Rubin, Rivera, & Healy, 2011). The article precisely depicted how the fight went, and it inferred there was a conspiracy for the attack. Authors doubted that there were people who had supported the insurgents to enter the secured premises with equipments for attacking.
MSN Sankei news article had similar contents as the New York Times, but it was in less descriptive manner. It covered backgrounds of the incident, but it did not cover a motive of the attack as the New York Times had. It said that Kabul’s security level remained high since it was the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attack (Takita, 2011). The author asserted that this incident showed Afghanistan had been far from settlement, and could be an evidence of ineffective ISAF (International Security Assistance Force, a security mission created by NATO). This was not mentioned in other two articles, and Takita inferred that there was an alleged conspiracy for assistance of the attack, as the New York Times did.
On the contrary to the previous two articles, Aljazeera did not even mention the presence of supporters who might have helped terrorists’ attack. However, it provided a unique perspective compared to other articles, and quoted a statement of Zabihullah Mujahid, who is a spokesperson for the Taliban disclosing that “the primary targets of the attackers [were] the intelligence agency building and a ministry” (“Taliban Target”, 2011). This might be helpful to understand why the incident took place.
By comparing and contrasting those three articles, we may be able to see a whole picture of the attack. Each article helps and fills in missing parts. However, it is true that there is a variation in information in each report. This might prevent us from having a consistent idea regarding the incident, the Taliban, the country of Afghanistan, and terrorism.
Another factor of media that contributes to misconception within the general public is the use of graphic images. The New York Times had a video showing one of the authors reporting from Kabul. It showed graphics of soldiers, helicopters, guns and casualties. This video triggers psychological reaction that makes us shocked and antagonized against the Taliban and damages caused by them. (You can watch the video at http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/09/13/world/asia/100000001050805/timescast--taliban-attacks-in-kabul.html).
The Taliban also had a video depicted and focused more on fighting portion of the incident.
How do you feel after watching those two videos? Indeed we feel that the country of Afghanistan is collapsed, and Taliban is a dangerous and violent terrorist group. That might be true; however, we should not just watch graphics and believe the feelings you had. Those images may contain misconceptions. One article or video does not provide a whole picture of the incident.
Rubin, A. J., Rivera, R., & Healy, J. "Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Embassy in Kabul." The New York Times September 13, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/world/asia/14afghanistan.html?scp=1&sq=militants%20launch%20attack%20on%20U.S.&st=cse
Takita, M. “Taliban attacked the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan.” MSN Sankei News September 13, 2011. Retrieved from http://sankei.jp.msn.com/world/news/110913/asi11091323090005-n1.htm.
“Taliban target key sites in Kabul: Battle with Afghan forces dragged into the night after a day of chaos in the capital.” Aljazeera September 14, 2011. Retrieved from www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/09/2011913234447565145.html
