Steven Livingston - The Terrorism Spectacle

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The Terrorism Spectacle

The Terrorism Spectacle

Steven Livingston

First published 1994 by Westview Press

Published 2019 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1994 by Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Livingston, Steven.
The terrorism spectacle / by Steven Livingston.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-8776-0 (HC)
1. TerrorismPolitical aspects. 2. Terrorism in the mass media
United States. 3. United StatesForeign relations. I. Title.
HV6431.L578 1993
070.4'49303625'0973dc20 93-32042
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-29650-6 (hbk)

To Cathy

Contents

Guide

While this is a book about terrorism, it is also intended to address other more general concerns not specific to terrorism. I am most interested in how various components of the policy processofficials and other political actors, the news media, and the publicinteract. There are a number of issues besides terrorism which would make the same or similar points. They include, among others, the politics of race, poverty, crime, the war on drugs (as an example I use in suggests), and the images which have surrounded the more recent conventional wars the United States has found itself involved

Here are the points I wish to make in the book: First, to understand the policy process requires an awareness of how issues are first defined in public debate. This may even involve the exclusion of some issues and issue interpretations from public debate altogether. What the public takes to be important, whimsical, sad, celebratory, threatening, reassuring, and to some extent even real in the world outside of personal experience are constructs, which are usually found in news accounts and are often a part of a strategy to encourage the adoption of a particular set of policy options.

In the particular case of terrorism, I will argue that public perception of terrorism and counterterrorism has had more to do with the desired objectives of policy makers and far less to do with any clearly identified and assiduously adhered to counterterrorism policy. Sustained, though incomplete, official and media attention to terrorist violence around the world has created a public climate and public arousal, which has invited a more assertive foreign policy abroad and politically motivated investigations of political, religious, and civic groups at home. Terrorismor at least the official view of terrorism has invited and justified particular policy responses.

This is certainly not to say that terrorism has not been a serious problem. Quite the contrary, there has been a tragic surfeit of terrorist violence in recent years. In fact, there were far more acts of terrorism than American politicians, officials, and the news media generally recognized in the 1980s and early 1990s. In the case of the Reagan and Bush administrations, there was a limited recognition of terrorism, one based more upon consideration of the policy implications involved in any given terrorism designation.

Outline of the Book

introduces the reader to the idea that terrorism is often understood to have a special or symbiotic relationship with the news media. Terrorists benefit from the free publicity given to them in news coverage while news organizations benefit from the drama of terrorism. A more complete understanding, I propose, must also take into account political power, which is understood as issue management and official interaction with the news media.

reviews the Reagan and Bush administrations' counterterrorism policies toward Iraq from February 1982 to its invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. This review is based largely on interviews of several counterterrorism and Middle East policy makers in both administrations. Iraq's involvement in the sponsorship of international terrorism was excluded from consideration by the Reagan and Bush administrations in their pursuit of desired Middle East policy goals. This is merely illustrative of a more general trend.

offers two additional examples of the administrations' failure to recognize the terrorist activities of strategic allies: the anti-Soviet rebels in Afghanistan and the UNITA rebels in Angola. News coverage of these conflicts is compared to official reports on terrorism regarding Angola and Afghanistan.

presents a summary of the results of an extensive analysis of New York Times stories about political violence.

. The news is understood as the product of a "transactional" relationship between the mainstream news media and government officials. This relationship is itself the result of the economics of news production, news routines, and government news management techniques.

takes this argument one step further by presenting evidence which suggests a "news repair" process occurs in instances where the credibility of official sources is seriously threatened.

makes the same point, though this time regarding domestic policy.

summarizes the findings and offers concluding remarks concerning the theoretical and practical implications of those findings. Several possible solutions are also discussed.

Steven Livingston

I am very grateful for the generous contributions made to this project by so many talented people. First and foremost, I wish to thank Lance Bennett. My gratitude goes well beyond any words I might offer here. I trust that he knows this.

I also owe special thanks to several extraordinary teachers, colleagues, and friends at the University of Washington, only some of whom may be mentioned here. David Olson and Don McCrone's support over the years made this book possible. Michael McCann, Don Matthews, Ruth Horowitz, Jim Larson, Gladys Engel Lang, and Kurt Lang have been important sources of insight and inspiration from the very start of my academic career.

Glenda Pearson or the University of Washington's Suzzallo Library was an enormous help to me. Her professionalism and good cheer actually made the many days of reviewing microfilm pleasurable. (Glenda, I probably won't get the circulation Ivan Doig does, but I want you to know that my thanks to you and your staff stretches from here to Gros Ventre).

I have also benefited from stimulating discussions with many outstanding students in Seattle and Washington, D.C.: Pat Matteson, Dean Frits, Saul Kelner, and Sean Smith, to mention but a few. My colleagues at The George Washington University's National Center for Communication Studies have also been a great source of insight and encouragement. Jarol Manheim, Philip Robbins, Charles Puffenbarger, and Jean Folkerts have been particularly helpful. Rama Odeh and Ghassan Alkhoja of the Computer Information and Resource Center have been reliable sources of assistance in the completion of this book. And for his friendship and invaluable example of what it takes to do meaningful scholarship and teaching, I want to thank David Satterwhite.

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