How the Media Impacts Public Perception of Violent Attacks: ELF

Taylor White

POL 357

Professor Shirk

31 March 2018

            How the Media Impacts Public Perception of Violent Attacks: ELF

            As society transitions from print media in the form of newspapers to broadcast media via television, the headlines and breaking news of news outlets including CNN and Fox News draw in viewers and impact the way they perceive the information. In class on Thursday, we discussed how the media influences the way we view public events; the media molds the public perception of the ideology of all groups to which attacks are linked, and therefore is the catalysts for the way the nation either condemns or praises the act. Regarding the Earth Liberation Front(ELF), broadcast media is to blame for why the members of the group have been demonized and why the movement deemed futile.

            When a CNN or Fox News headline pops up on our phones detailing a recent attack and numbers the people who are either dead or injured, our first reaction is to turn on the television to learn more.  While many violent attacks are committed to induce fear, the media may be the source that elevates the public’s fear, with the fanfare and twenty-four-hour coverage surrounding the event. As individuals attempt to stay up to date on the event effecting our world, those who watch these outlets have been studied to see how the news they hear about impacts their perception of the event and their anxiety over something similar happening in their area. One recent study found that, “…exposure to terrorism-related news is positively associated with perceived risk of terrorism to self and others and with fear for others, but not for self.[1]” The media not only heightens our ideas of the risk of these acts, but it also impacts the way we perceive the attacking group’s ideology. If the group is quickly labeled as an “other” or one not socially accepted in American culture, they are immediately demonized, and we do not attempt to understand their motives. Framing, or the parts of an event that the media choose to focus on, “… is expressed through the selection or rejection of subjects, their hierarchy, their placement, the choice of speakers and images. It can also be reflected in the use of some words and epithets.”[2] The framing of the ELF, as a leaderless group, is to blame for why the movement is seen as illegitimate, as the media has convinced the public that the group’s demise is imminent.

            While, in the hopes of controlling public perception, the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office(NAELFPO) is tasked with announcing the actions of the ELF, the group’s motives and the way it is broadcasted by mainstream media do not always align. The goal of the NAELFPO is, “to work to explain the importance and necessity of clandestine guerrilla action in a revolutionary movement to liberate the Earth from the stranglehold of the system,”[3] yet as more people claim to be experts on the issues, they alter the group’s original message. In turn, the broadcast media relies upon the testimony of these self-proclaimed experts rather than spokespeople from the NAELFPO, because those associated with the ELF are labeled as dissociative tree huggers. Subsequently, the goals of the ELF such as the need to focus on deforestation and other questionable environment practices are seen as illegitimate, since they are in direct opposition to what the supposed experts on the subject proclaim. Just as the anarchist movement lacked a central leader, the ELF to runs without a figurehead. The media juxtaposes the ELF’s organization with that of the 1960s civil rights movement and claims that without a central leader, that the ELF’s actions are wasted. The public is warned to be wary of the group’s message because of the anonymity the group presents. The media declares that the group has failed as a result of, “…having its actors remain unsympathetically faceless and nameless,”[4] yet this would be incorrect, as the fault lies in the media relying upon the ideas of those not associated with the group, rather than the group itself.

            Many may claim that as the group’s actions have destroyed many cities, that there is no point in properly publicizing the group’s message. They may cite the acts themselves and claim that once the acts were committed, that that was a clear enough message and that the group only publishes notifications to save itself. Others may state that the public should not trust the group’s notification system since it may present bias and only half-truths. These claims are incorrect and should be disregarded because, in order to understand why these actions occur, we must understand the group behind them. Also, it is erroneous to claim that one group, the ELF’s messaging system is biased, when the media holds its own bias, in favor of the self-proclaimed experts. While the public must be wary of the outlet through which it receives its news, all groups deserve to have their message be heard.

            The media impacts the way we perceive all news development but particularly affects the way we understand “terrorist” attacks. The media through a variety of methods instills an already heightened fear in the public, and quickly demonizes the group in question. Regarding the ELF, the media has painted the group’s members as senseless tree obsessed individuals and have twisted the group’s messages or disregarded them entirely. In turn, this had made the group’s efforts seem pointless and have turned public opinion against the ELF.

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[1] Nellis, Ashley Marie, and Joanne Savage. "Does Watching the News Affect Fear of Terrorism? The Importance of Media Exposure on Terrorism Fear." Crime & Delinquency 58, no. 5 (2012): 748-68. doi:10.1177/0011128712452961.

[2] Young, Eric. "Terrorism, Media, and the Rise of the Internet." Combating Transnational Terrorism, 2016, 85-98. doi:10.11610/ctt.ch06.

[3] http://www.skeptictank.org/ecowar/gen01410.htm

[4] Joosse, Paul. "Elves, Environmentalism, and “eco-terror”: Leaderless Resistance and Media Coverage of the Earth Liberation Front." Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal 8, no. 1 (2012): 75-93. doi:10.1177/1741659011433366.