It has always been that if you put on a mask and spoke Arabic to a camcorder, you could make it big in the media. Now some in Europe want to put an end to it.
According to the British Guardian, the European commisssion declares the "media should draw up a code of conduct to ensure that newspapers, television stations and the internet do not act as propagandists for terrorists."
"The media are the main vehicle through which [terrorism] attempts to affect citizens and leaders alike," reports the commission. "Journalists face the difficult responsibility of reconciling their duty to inform the public with the need not to facilitate the aims of terrorists."
Reports the Guardian:
"The warning to Europe's media will be issued today by Franco Frattini, the vice-president of the commission, when he outlines a 12-page proposal calling on the EU to agree a Europe-wide strategy to tackle terrorism. Mr Frattini, a close ally of the rightwing Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, offers to host a conference with the media this year to discuss his criticisms."
The most striking proposal is "a call for people to refrain from talking about Islamic terrorism."
The commission contends that the media convey an over-simplified view of the world, which "plays into terrorist hands."
"Typically this conveys a reductionist and conspiratorial world view where inequity and oppression are dominant ... Some form of self-regulation principle or code of conduct ... might be beneficial."
