A modest proposal for denying terrorists the publicity they seek

In a society where the most dysfunctional behavior and/or sheer nastiness can get people (or entire families) reality shows and "celebrity status," if the channel is changed to avoid the constant images of terrorists and suspected terrorists and their evil deeds, it is likely to be to look for a better angle--a close-up of the blood and gore, preferably in HD and slow-motion. The media panders to the lowest common denominator and, in turn, helps to bring the bar of what passes for news reporting ever lower. There is no sense of propriety, of editorial restraint, or of simple common decency evident in news reporting of tragedies.

Satiating the voyeuristic taste of the viewing public is not a journalist's reason for being. Nor is desensitizing the masses from the horrific acts of misguided, demented, or evil people. Showing a burning building is news. Showing people throwing themselves from the rooftop in act of desperation driven by the simple desire to avoid burning to death is unnecessary and cruel. Following the bodies down with a camera until they hit the ground and the aftereffects in glorious 3D would be inexcusable (but such video would be shown were it available with an appropriate disclaimer that viewer discretion is advised). Continually showing the faces of the men responsible for the act for more than a decade at the drop of a hat is free advertising for terror groups, promotes terrorism, and is criminal behavior masquerading as news and hiding behind the 1st Amendment protection.

I have a suggestion for dealing with terrorists and other crazies on the media loosely borrowed from an old science fiction short story whose name and author I simply cannot remember at the moment (please feel free to chime in if you do).

Rather than show us the faces of terrorists and endless footage of the carnage they wreak on the innocent repeatedly, endlessly, ad nauseam, ad infinitum, providing them and their "causes" with free publicity that money can't buy and encouraging an endless stream of like-minded wingnuts to blaze their own trails to hell for the amusement of a voyeuristic public, I'd like to propose a caricature be developed that places terrorists in an appropriate context--say, a skinny, mangy, rabid dog foaming at the mouth. Whenever an act of terror is perpetrated, place ONLY this image on the screen along with whatever description of the act and brief video clip is relevant. Any time thereafter when a terror suspect or convicted/dead terrorist is named, put their name under the mangy, rabid dog as a stand-in for their picture. Use as many mangy, rabid dogs as needed to represent any number of these morons. We can even differentiate domestic and foreign terrorists by using, say, a mangy, rabid dog for a domestic terrorist and a mangy rabid jackal for a foreign terrorist (or hyena, or some other unattractive lesser animal--I'm nothing if not flexible).

I might even watch an entire newscast again if these standards were adopted without an aching thumb from changing channels on my remote any time a glorified punk is shown on TV again, again, again and yet AGAIN.