ABSTRACT
In spite of various national and international efforts to deal with the dangers of terrorism, the level of nonstate violence remains high. Terrorist groups, by their very nature, are too small and too weak to achieve an upper hand in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation on the battlefield. Terrorism, then, like advertising, increases the effectiveness of its messages by focusing on spectacular incidents and by keeping particular issues alive through repetition. The utilization and manipulation of the media, as directed by Carlos Marighella and other proponents of political and ideological violence, have been practiced by practically all terrorist movements. Research on terrorism and the media should take into account the following observations and considerations: terrorism is essentially violence for effect and is directed not only at the instant victims of it and their family members, but, by extension, also at a wider audience.
