The Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979 to 1981 ushered in a decade characterized by an ongoing fight against international terrorism – one that brought about a change of mindset that is still perceivable in our society today. The shift that occurred was America’s sense of security with regards to terrorism turning to one of weakness. In my research I explored this shift in the context of television news coverage of two international hostage crises – the aforementioned Iranian crisis and the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847 in Beirut, Lebanon.
Specifically, I looked at NBC’s nightly televised broadcasts of both events and was interested in the many cases where the broadcasts were intentionally intensified with saying such as, “Beirut, the most chaotic city in the world.” 1. New York, NY: NBC news. Retrieved from http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=502300.]
After watching NBC’s nightly news coverage of the event, and seeing the enragement of the American public, I was interested in seeing why protests ensued this event, but not others of the 1970s, a time of much other domestic trouble, about which there was much less anger. And similarly, why 5 years after the Iranian crisis, there was again such relatively little outrage amidst the TWA crisis.
For my blog I have considered the idea of “persuasive communication” presented by Robert Picard that in some cases media coverage can feed into a terrorist’s agenda. Picard says, “Terrorists use news media to reach their target audience…rhetorical impact for the terrorist is achieved through responses to the terrorist act“ (p. 22) 2 This whole research project along with the consideration Picard’s theory, has made me consider media in an entirely different manner, and how and in what ways it influences us both through content and the context.
In response, this blog is a collection of cartoons and drawings that I have made after considering the research I have done.
The theme is that of America’s arguably unprecedented reactions to terror, but I have chosen to give minimal description, instead leaving it mostly up to the imagination.
Featured Image Citation: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Man_holding_sign_during_Iranian_hostage_crisis_protest,_1979.jpg