Terrorism and the media : from the Iran hostage crisis to the World Trade Center bombing

In the last decade, terrorism has reached the shores of the USA, culminating in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre and the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in an otherwise-placid locale.This study argues that terrorists exploit the link between the media and foreign policies - particularly the cause-and-effect relationship between public opinion polls and presidential decision-making - in order to publicize demands and threats, reported by the news media as spectacles, that sometimes move Americans to sympathize with and support the victims and their families at the expense of the national interest.The Iranian hostage crisis, the hijacking of the "Achille Lauro" and TWA Flight 847, and the bombings at Rome's airport and on Pan Am Flight 103 are examined with a critical eye on the practices of such media giants as "CBS Evening News" and "The New York Times".The study concludes with an assessment of the first major act of terrorism on American soil, the bombing of the World Trade Center, and considers the similarities and differences between terrorism inside and outside a targeted country.In the new preface, Nacos includes important recent events, showing how right wing radio talk shows played pivotal roles in articulating the causes of terrorists like the "Michigan Militia" and "Unabomber".