Bruce Allen Scharlau PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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not. A month later, 50% had thought the government been 'resolute and
well-considered' f 35% not so, and 15% were undecided.8o
The West German news embargo's mixed results, and its
inappropriateness where emphasis is placed on knowing what has been
decided on the public's behalf, raises the question of other options. At
the extreme end there is censorship of all terrorist incidents. In some
cases this could lead to increased terrorist incidents when government
supporters think they can attack suspected left-wing terrorists and
their supporters without any fear of exposure or criticism by the media.
Furthermore, the possibility of rumours that are worse than overheated
news coverage is also possible,81 possibly damaging government
credibility and thus aiding the terrorists.
In between news embargos and censorship from above and unfettered
coverage r
are other possibilities. Codes of practice for the media have
been suggested r
but also have problems when each incident is considered
unique and makes generalised rules inadequate. Additionally r
each news
organisation, radio and television stations and the press, are also
unique. To force them all into one mould would be difficult and possibly
futile. 82
Delayed reporting has other difficul ties. For example, media and
government credibility is on the line when lots of people already know
what has happened r
such as when buildings are cleared in bomb scares r
and other incidents. Lies by the authorities and the media could be
remembered, so it is necessary to avoid lies r
in order that the public
trust the media and the government next time. One suggested way out of
this dilemma is for the media to not become part of the story, and to
stay away from these problems.83
Another option, moving towards censorship, is that of banning
television and radio interviews with terrorists and other proscribed
organisations as a means of reducing propaganda outlets.84 However r
this
is less of an option in the Federal Republic where such interviews are
few and rare r
than in the Uni ted Kingdom where they have been more
frequent due to the availability of elected parliamentary
representatives and Provisional Irish Republican Army spokesnen
available for comment after terrorist incidents, who could speak about
the 'armed struggle' .
80 ibid.; Noelle-Neumann (ed.), 165.
81 Schmid, de Graaf, 150, 157; Schmid (1989), 560.
82 Charles L. Bennet in: Michael T. McEwan r Stephen Sloan I
"Terrorism: Police and Media Problems" Terrurism 2 (1/2) 1979, 1-54, 4-
5.
83 Jim Campbell in McEwan, Sloan (eds.) (1979), 33-5.
84 Wilkinson (1990), 32-3.