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Journal Media and Communication Studies Vol. 1(6) pp. 095-105, December, 2009 Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/jmcs ©2009 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper The print media coverage of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks: A study on the coverage of leading Indian newspapers and its impact on people M. Neelamalar*, P. Chitra and Arun Darwin Department of Media Sciences, Anna University Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Accepted 23 October, 2009 Since its independence in 1947, India has been facing the problem of terrorism in different parts of the country. This research is an analysis of the media coverage of terrorists’ attack on Mumbai (one of the busy metros of India and the business capital of the country) on 26 November 2008 (now the attack is popularly known as 26/11). The research is carried out to know the people’s opinion about the media coverage, to find out how people responded to the newspaper coverage, whether the coverage was biased or sensationalizing, how people responded to the coverage, whether they gave a fair coverage to the incident and to find out whether they commercialized the issue. Key words: Mumbai, terror attacks, media, coverage, impact. INTRODUCTION Since its independence in 1947, India has been facing as 26/11). the problem of terrorism in different parts of the country. The research is carried out to know the people’s India has faced terrorist movements in Punjab and opinion about the media coverage, to find out how people Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Pakistan and northeast responded to the newspaper coverage, whether the and also in certain states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya coverage was biased or sensationalizing, how people Pradesh and Orissa. The maximum number of terrorist responded to the coverage, whether they gave a fair incidents and deaths of innocent civilians have occurred coverage to the incident and to find out whether they due to religious terrorism. Bomb blasts, plane hijacks, commercialized the issue. The general idea behind the kidnapping people etc., have become a regular story in research is to find the people’s view of terrorism Indian media these days. coverage by the media with Mumbai terror attack as the Media play a major role in covering the terrorist acti- major incident. Mumbai incident was taken because it is a vities. Margaret Thatcher once said that publicity is the major terror incident which shocked the whole country oxygen for terrorism-this underlines the point that and was covered fully by media, people especially youth capturing public perception is a major terrorist target and responded strongly to the politician’s inability to prevent the media are central in shaping it. Terrorists must get terrorism and it affected to great extent the economy and publicity in some form if they are to gain attention, inspire tourism of the country. Media with its 24 h coverage of fear and respect and secure favorable understanding of the incident with fear provoking headlines like ‘Is India their cause. Terrorist organizations seek media coverage safe?’ and full coverage of the rescue operation by the to create panic, to spread fear, to facilitate economic loss security forces, actually helped the terrorist achieve their and to make people lose faith in their government’s ability goals. to protect them. This research is an analysis of the media coverage of terrorists’ attack on Mumbai (one of the busy metros of India and the business capital of the country) 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 (now the attack is popularly known The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks across Mumbai, India's financial capital and its largest city. The attacks, carried out by a *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Pakistan-based Islamic terrorist group using automatic 096 J. Media Commun. Stud. weapons and grenades, began on 26 November 2008 chosen able military-aged males. Witnesses have and ended on 29 November 2008. At least 173 people described the men as young and fit. Some of the gunmen were killed and at least 308 were injured in the attacks. appear to have been well trained; some have been cre- Eight attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati dited with having good marksmanship and other military Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal skills. Palace and Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the A witness who saw one of the teams land by sea Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House, the Metro described the gunmen as "in their 20s, fair-skinned and Cinema and a lane behind the Times of India building tall, clad in jeans and jackets." He saw "eight young men behind St. Xavier's College. There was also an explosion stepping out of the raft, two at a time. They jumped into at the Mazagaon docks in Mumbai's port area and a taxi the waters and picked up a haversack. They bent down blast at Vile Parle. again and came up carrying two more haversacks, one in By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except each hand." An Indian official claimed the attackers used the Taj Mahal Palace had been secured by Mumbai "sophisticated weapons," however this may be an over- Police and security forces. An action by India's National statement. Reports indicate the gunmen used automatic Security Guards on 29 November ended the Taj Mahal rifles, hand grenades and some machineguns, as well as Palace encounter, ending all fighting in the attacks. several car bombs. The terrorists did not have sophis- Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist who was captured ticated weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles to attack alive, disclosed that the attackers were members of helicopters supporting Indian counterterrorism forces. Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Pakistan-based militant organiza- tion, considered a terrorist organization by India, the United States and the United Kingdom, among others. End of attacks The Indian Government said that the attackers came By the morning of 27 November, the Indian army had from Pakistan and their controllers were in Pakistan. The secured the Jewish outreach center at Nariman House as attacks drew widespread condemnation across the world. well as the Oberoi Trident hotel and incorrectly believed that the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers had also been cleared of terrorists. The fires were out and soldiers were Preparation for the attack leading hostages and holed-up guests to safety and The Mumbai attack is uniquely different from past terror removing bodies of those killed in the attacks. However, strikes carried out by Islamic terrorists. Instead of one or later news reports indicated that there were still two or more bombings at distinct sites, the Mumbai attackers three terrorists in the Taj, with explosions heard and struck throughout the city using military tactics. An attack gunfire exchanged. Fires were also reported as having of this nature requires planning, scouting, financing, been caused at the ground floor of the Taj with plumes of training and a support network to aid the fighters. Initial smoke arising from the first floor. The final operation at reports indicate the attacks originated from Pakistan, the the Taj Mahal Palace hotel was completed by the hub of jihadi (dedicated for religious cause and freedom) National Security Guards at 08:00 on 29 November, activity in South Asia. Few local terror groups had the killing three terrorists and resulting in the end of the capacity to pull of an attack such as this. attacks. The security forces rescued 250 people from the While the exact size of the assault force and the Oberoi, 300 from the Taj and 60 people (members of 12 support cells is still not known, as per the police estimate different families) from Nariman House. about 25 gunmen were involved in the attack. The number of members of the supporting cells that provide The counterattack financing, training, transportation and other services could be two to four times this number. Operational Police appeared to have regained control of the situation security for such a large unit, or grouping of cells, is at the CSP train station, cafe and cinema relatively difficult to maintain and requires organization and easier, however they were unable to handle the hostage discipline. situation at the hotels, the hospital and the Jewish center. To pull off an attack of this magnitude, it requires Police officials admitted they were “overwhelmed” by the months of training, planning and on-site reconnaissance. attacks and unable to contain the fighting. After a delay, Indian officials have stated that the terrorists set up more than 200 National Security Guards commandos and "advance control rooms" at the Taj Mahal and Trident a number of elite Naval commandos, as well as an un- (Oberoi) hotels and conducted a significant amount of known number of Army forces were deployed to Mumbai. reconnaissance prior to executing the attack. If the news The hotels, the hospital and the Jewish center were about the "control rooms" is accurate, these rooms may surrounded as the special operations forces prepared to also have served as weapons and ammunition caches for assault the buildings. the assault teams to replenish after conducting the first Commandos are in the process of clearing the Taj and half of the operation. the Trident in room-by-room searches. Some of the The planners of the Mumbai attack appear to have rooms are reported to have been rigged with explosives. Neelamalar et al. 097 Several National Security Guards commandos have been one Mauritian, one Mexican, one Singaporean and one reported to have been killed or wounded in the fighting. Thai. In addition, nine terrorists were killed and one was Indian forces are also storming the Jewish Center after captured.

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