The Journalistic Treatment of Terrorism Victims As Political Activists
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News Media and the Authority of Grief: The Journalistic Treatment of Terrorism Victims as Political Activists Zohar Kadmon Sella Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Zohar Kadmon Sella All rights reserved ABSTRACT News Media and the Authority of Grief: The Journalistic Treatment of Terrorism Victims as Political Activists Zohar Kadmon Sella The personal and national dimensions of terrorism victimhood lend the victims their unique moral authority and political legitimacy. The analysis of the news media coverage of victims’ campaigns, on issues such as memorialization, criminal justice, hostage crises and peace activism, reveals that the more such campaigns are closer in time, space, and relevance to the attack that the victim-advocates underwent, the greater are their chances for positive coverage. Deferential coverage of victims’ campaigns reflects journalism’s cultural role as reinforcing common values and myths, including by way of portraying victims as heroes. Where victims’ campaigns are less related to the physical memory of the attack and more concerned with the military or legal aspects of terrorism, journalists take on their informational role and employ traditional professional standards. Such standards include subjecting victims to potential criticism, and at the very least “balancing” their arguments with official views. In issues where the victims’ arguments seem far removed from their personal experience, their influence over the news media is small. This range of journalistic notions is offered under the organizing mechanism of the Experience-Argument Scale. The two extreme ends of the Scale, the “deferential” end and the “disregarding” end, are where journalism’s missions are in danger of compromise. Journalism at the “deferential” end is emotional, reluctant to bring forth opposing opinions, and in effect may contribute to policies that are driven more by trauma than by considered opinion. At the other end of the Scale, journalism is deaf to the victims, and fails to enrich policy debates with the lessons of their experience. The comparative examination of coverage in the U.S. and Israel illuminates the different relationships between press and government in these two cultures, and how local responses to victims reflect the particular local history of terrorism, and the particular notions of nationhood, solidarity and patriotism. Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Deference to Terrorism Victims ................................................................ 49 Chapter 2: Memorialization ......................................................................................... 88 Chapter 3: Abducted Soldiers .................................................................................... 162 Chapter 4: Victims and the Overarching Conflict ..................................................... 245 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 320 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 341 i List of Charts, Graphs, Illustrations Figure 1: Yedioth Aharonoth cover photo, May 15, 2008 .......……...…………… 63 Figure 2: An illustration by Orit Bergman, The Seventh Eye, March 2004 .......... 74 Figure 3: Channel 2’s split-screen, March 3, 2002 ................................................... 97 Figure 4: The 1993 World Trade Center Memorial .................................................. 105 Figure 5: The Matza Restaurant Memorial ................................................................. 107 Figure 6: The Dolphinarium Memorial ....................................................................... 107 Figure 7: The Memorial for Victims of Hostile Acts and Terrorism, Jerusalem .. 108 Figure 8: A detail from the Beit Lid Memorial .......................................................... 113 Figure 9: Image of the families’ design of the Maxim memorial ............................ 117 Figure 10: The Maxim memorial, Haifa ..................................................................... 117 Figure 11: The Memorial Fence, Oklahoma City National Memorial ................. 124 Figure 12: Survivors’ Wall, Oklahoma City Memorial ............................................ 132 Figure 13: The chosen International Freedom Center design plan by Snohetta ... 145 Figure 14: The Gilad Shalit campaign logo ............................................................... 180 Figure 15: Former security officials in a Shalit campaign ad ............................... 216 ii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisors, Professor Todd Gitlin, who beyond scholarly insight kept my work grounded in contemporary culture and current affairs of the U.S. and Israel; Professor Brigitte Nacos, who was the first to appreciate and support my quest to understand the relationship between news media and terrorism victims; Professor Michael Schudson, who among many other things helped me build the foundations for this work by guiding me through my literature review, and finally, my very special thanks go to Professor Andie Tucher, who as an advisor and a friend shepherded me through this five year journey. Prof. Tucher’s relentless belief in me gave me the confidence that despite all of life’s turbulences, I would eventually reach the finish line. I would like to thank my family and friends, who stood by me throughout all of the big life changes that took place during these years. My parents and in-laws, who provided me a constant web of support and child care when I was writing the dissertation, having a full time job and raising three kids. This would have been impossible without their love, dedication and at times, forgiveness for my absence. My deepest thanks go to my husband Dan and to our children. Although young in age, Amnon, Alona and Eric showed maturity by understanding that mommy’s quest required hard work and time alone. I am thankful to them and hopeful that gratitude will never turn to guilt over that lost bonding time. Dan supported me every step of the way, with amazing insights, and occasionally, with entire Saturdays spent as a single dad. Dan, my heart goes out to you in love and gratitude. iii To Oshrit iv 1 Introduction As modern terrorism has become a mass-mediated enterprise, its victims have been increasingly ubiquitous in the news media.1 Initially, victims tend to appear as unwilling participants and witnesses to the events. At the scene of the attack, the victims express their shock and grief, and occasionally their immediate response to the political circumstance that has led to violence. Some express their confidence that peace and justice will prevail, some cry for revenge, and others direct their anger to the security or policy failures that have put them in danger. During long hostage situations, both the direct victims (if they are allowed to) and their families lobby for diplomatic solutions.2 Victims, randomly caught up by political violence, often 1 “Modern terrorism” is a term often used to characterize terrorist incidents between the years 1968- 1993. The “modern” element of terrorist activity consisted of sophisticated exploitation of modern transportation, increasing availability of ammunition and explosives from terrorism-sponsoring states, and the utilization of an ever-evolving communication technology—both mass-media and consumer electronics. The 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing marked the advent of “new terrorism,” or "catastrophic terrorism," which was new not only in its large scale, but also in that it was characterized by lethality that was not accompanied by negotiable demands. The 2013 Nairobi mall massacre typified this genre, and highlighted its media dependency, as this was an ongoing hostage situation whose single purpose was to remain on the international news agenda as long as possible, making known the perpetrators, al- Shabaab, and the political instability in Somalia. 2 This happened, for example, during the Iran Hostage Crisis, during the long captivity of Americans held by Hezbollah in the 1980s, and during the long captivity of Ingrid Betancourt in the Colombia FARC territory. 2 choose to engage in an array of terrorism-related policy issues long after the attacks, thus remaining in the media spotlight in a new, political capacity. The political pressure groups that victims establish vary in form and intensity, but they all work for state solutions—legislation, diplomatic initiatives and judicial decisions—aimed to bring the perpetrators to justice and increase national security. Terrorism victims possess a particular kind of political legitimacy, one that derives from their trauma and loss. More important, it derives from the fact that terrorism victims typically are targeted not as individuals but as members of a particular nationality, religion or ethnic group. Particularly when a national conflict is involved, their unique and tragic experience creates an aura that cannot be separated from their policy arguments and lends them the moral authority of national heroes. Terrorism victims’ political activism is a subset of a larger phenomenon