ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the democratic function of the media, by virtue of its role as the ‘fourth estate’. In doing so, it takes a multi-jurisdictional perspective, through recourse to a variety of international laws and jurisprudence. This acts as the foundation for the following sections, which provide analysis of the domestic and international legal principles and framework that the media are subject to, and operate within, when reporting on terrorist activity. The chapter also considers how the print and broadcast media has reported terrorist activity in the past, and some of the problems that this has created. It analyses the changing media landscape, including the reasons for the demise of the traditional ‘fourth estate’, and the emergence, and ascendance, of citizen journalism, and an internet-based ‘fifth estate’. Media freedom, freedom of expression and democracy are inextricably and intrinsically linked with each other, as the media is an important democratic cog within society.
