This essay discusses the promises and problems of several major approaches to studying the role of mass media in the evolution of insurgent terrorism. The question of how the coverage of media is related to attention-seeking attempts by insurgent terrorists and their subsequent response has been approached primarily within two major traditions in the literature. In the tradition of Media Determinism, media are suggested to have determined the outcome of terrorism either by legitimizing terrorism, which, in turn, results in the prevalence of terrorist violence, or by regressing toward the established norms, which discredits adversaries. The tradition of News Sociology, on the other hand, emphasizes the reality-responsive quality of news and deemphasizes the ideologically-directed nature of news selection process. It is suggested in this paper that a third, Social-Cultural, perspective is much in need, in which mass communication is viewed as both the means for stimulating change and contributing to the climate of terrorism reality, and as disseminating information in response to terrorist situations. Furthermore, the likelihood that terrorist violence is an interlocking behavior must also receive attention in order to uncover how else terrorism may persist in addition to the possible contribution of mass media.
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