Terrorism: Paranoia and the Internet

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Recommended: Impact of sensationalism in mass media

Terrorism: Paranoia and the Internet

My third edition American Heritage dictionary defines paranoia as "a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution or grandeur." Having looked that up, I'm not sure paranoia is the right label for what I'm about to write about; or at least, it is not the only label. I think, specifically regarding terrorism (by maybe more generally as well), the idea of paranoia blurs and blends at its boundaries between propaganda ("the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause") and dogma ("a corpus of doctrines set forth by a religion" or "an authoritative principle or belief, esp. one considered to be absolutely true") and sensationalism ("the use of lurid or exaggerated matter, esp. in writing, journalism, or politics"). Differentiating amongst these is more difficult than I would have imagined before I began reading and researching on the Internet.

The first Internet text I would like to consider comes from the Christian Broadcasting Network's website (www.cbn.com). It is the text of a press release: "Pat Robertson's Statement Regarding Terrorist Attack." Pat Robertson explains the reason for the horrific events of September 11th. our nation's great cities and innocent people were attacked, according to Robertson, because God has "lift[ed] His protection from us." Why? Robertson answers by condemning America's capitalist economy, condemning America's foundation in the rights to free speech and expression, condemning those Americans who support a woman's right to choose, and condemning the American government's enforcement of the separation of church and state. To me, Robertson's ideas, further exemplified in the following excerpts, seem dogmatic and sensationalist:

"All over ...

... middle of paper ...

...Government, and how to organize violent militia groups. The question facing us, as an open society, is how to respond to the most controversial and extreme uses of this new technology, this electronic, global Gutenberg printing press that turns all citizens into publishers who can reach thousands and even millions of people around the country and the world."

I think the notion that fear is the goal of terrorists is of central importance to this issue. Terrorists want, strive, aim to incite terror. They want fear, anxiousness, and paranoia to fester amongst their targets. So, maybe it is the case that media and Internet abet this sense of paranoia; but in any case, it is the goal of the terrorists. And in a terrifyingly successful terrorist attack like that of September 11th, it makes sense that the nation would be left in a state of shock, terror, and paranoia.

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