Annual Journalism Lecture takes on terrorism and the media

David Anderson KBE, QC, and former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in the UK, presented the 2019 Essex Journalism Lecture.

The main theme of the lecture was the relationship between terrorism and the media and the duty of accurate reporting, a tough challenge facing journalists today.

The event, attended by more than a hundred people consisting of both students and staff, took place at the Lakeside Theatre.

In his talk, David Anderson set out his views on the issue and acknowledged the importance of good, high-quality journalism, mentioning the danger of the industry provoking unreasonable fear and a divisive reaction.

He said: “Fanning the flames with particular vigour are the media, who evoke fear to achieve attention thus serving the interests of the terrorist, who needs attention if he is to provoke fear."

On his radar was also the disruptive effect of social media, the physical danger presented to journalists themselves and the constraints placed on good quality reporting by falling revenues for the mainstream media.

The lecture was organised by Director of Journalism, Tim Fenton.

He said: “With absolute clarity and compelling illustration, David has summed up perfectly the issues entailed in one of the most difficult subjects for the modern news media. We greatly appreciate the thought and effort David has put into his lecture and the candour with which he has responded to questions.”

This article was written by Magdalena Adamkova from our BA Multimedia Journalism course.