Terrorism is propaganda by intelligence and military agencies while news organisations fall prey to it, said British investigative journalist Nick Davies who was part of a panel discussion on ‘The Business of Terrorism’ at the ongoing Mumbai LitFest on Saturday.
British Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Lorraine Adams and research scholar Raffaelo Pantucci also participated in the discussion chaired by writer Omair Ahmed.
Mr Davies explained how spreading misinformation in the name of terrorism is in favour of a few. “Terrorism is surrounded by idea of misinformation deliberately fabricated by military agencies the propaganda machine is pumping misinformation through media. Some news are created to achieve goals,” he said.
On the role of media on terrorism, Mr Davies said, “The news organisations have been drained of all their resources, as they are owned by profit-hungry corporations whose emphasis is on increasing output only. This attitude is taking away the ability of journalists to take up their jobs (in correct sense). We have become weak and then you have
the military intelligence agencies exploiting our position to plant stories,” he said.
Stating that terrorism was fundamentally about political violence, Raffaelo Pantucci said individuals get caught up in this global ideology. “Most of these individuals are either in their late teens or in early twenties. The concept of violence is exciting to them. Later, they are fascinated by the camaraderie and the opportunity to be part of a global ideology,” he said.
Ms Adams said that one needs to check every case individually. “Terrorism carries a propaganda label with it. Every individual act described as terrorism must be examined always because they are all completely different from each other,” she added.
Narrating her experience, she said, “The FBI captured an Algerian youth in 1999. I interviewed him, listened to the FBI tapes of conversations. The main charge against him was that he went to Afghanistan, he had not. When I told this story, they said, no you have to write that he was a terrorist and that is why I quit my job,” she said.
