Terrorism and the Media Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terrorism and the Media - Case Study Example Law enforcement officers immediately narrowed down on two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as the prime suspects in the bombings. Following an extended man-hunt for the then-unidentified suspects, the police bumped into Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, Massachusetts, and a massive gun battle ensued. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot in the gun fire and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. Dzhokhar somehow managed to escape the police dragnet, but was later on apprehended and up to date remains under federal custody (Bodden, 2014). The Boston Bombings attracted intense interest from the public and, as expected; the media took the center-stage in disseminating information, both substantiated and unsubstantiated. During the investigation, for instance, media came under heavy criticism for making unconfirmed conclusion and reporting inaccurately on the unfolding events. The 24-hour real time new cycle implied cut-throat competition among news agencies, all looking forward to feeding the anxious public with the most recent news event. In one case, some media agencies reported that the â€Å"person of interest† following the bombing was a Saudi national while another medium reported that there were several explosive devices planted in Boston. CNN, a leading new agency not only in US but across the globe was not spared from this media frenzy. As a matter of fact, it was after CNN’s inaccurate reporting of a â€Å"dark-skinned† suspect with â€Å"brown skin† suspect that the FBI had to iss ue a warning to all media houses to desist from premature reporting. An analysis of media’s role into emergency response following Boston bombing was significantly positive. Since journalists were already at the scene at the instance the bombings occurred, they covered the magnitude of the damage caused and broadcasted the same information in