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Confronting Terrorism Demystifying terrorism for alumni By Melissa W. Kaye
	Most of us don’t have the opportunity to interview terrorists, says Dr. Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State. We have to rely on the media. However, he points out, reporters get most of their information from law enforcement agencies. “If the media are reporting what law enforcement agencies say, are those law enforcement agencies going to tell the truth? Some will tell less than the whole truth, because it’s not in their best interest to tell the whole truth of what they know—and often it’s not in our best interests either.” In that case, what is a consumer to do? Is it possible for citizens to ever know the truth about terrorist acts in the world today?   That’s the gist behind the Internet-based seminar Jenkins led this summer: “A Consumer’s Guide to Terrorism,” based on his recently released book Images of Terror: What We Can and Can’t Know about Terrorism. The “onLion Seminar for Penn Staters” class, offered by the Penn State Alumni Association and the Penn State World Campus, was a blend of streaming video, Internet resources and discussion via an electronic bulletin board.“   Terrorism will probably be a dominant fact of life in this country for the next decade,” said Jenkins, whose majority of writings, including 18 books and a couple hundred articles, tend to examine social problems.“   In my work, I look at how people decide what is a problem, as well as fears and panics, and whether those fears are justified,” he said.   And in this case, the fear of terrorism is very real. The seminar was aimed at helping people manage that fear by teaching them to “read through the lines—to become critical consumers,” Jenkins said.   During a one-month period, more than 100 people joined the class—logging on and following the class at their own pace. Participants could begin by listening to Jenkins respond to a series of questions on video, including “What is terrorism?” (Jenkins prefers the State Department’s definition: a premeditated, politically motivated act of violence against non-combatant people) and “How is terrorism different from other political agendas?” (Jenkins argues that terrorism is a tactic, not a movement, used by almost any kind of cause and that “terrorism sometimes serves as a strategy of desperation”).   In response to the question of how we can become critical consumers, Jenkins said it is important to ask how the media know what they know and, in turn, how does a law agency know what it knows?“   For example, if there’s a senior government agent inside a terrorist movement, the government is not going to reveal its secret means of intelligence gathering. ... When a terror operation happens, it represents a failure of intelligence agencies. [Agencies] are working very hard to explain why they failed in that instance. You have to be alert. [They are] always trying to explain failure.”   Jenkins added, “My biggest criticism of the media is that they tend to accept the official version.”   Case studies offered specific examples of world events and their backgrounds, along with links to a wide range of Internet sites serving to demonstrate different perspectives.   For example, in a case study of suicide bombings in Israel, there were links to CNN’s in-depth report of the situation in the Middle East, the State Department’s press statement on the “roadmap” to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Middle East Media Research Institute and Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper.   “I chose a wide range of sites to include, but it only scratched the surface [of what’s out there],” Jenkins said. Some are controversial, he noted, such as the link to a site listing a “Chronology of American State Terrorism,” under the case study on state terrorism. The site displays a waving American flag with a swastika on it.“   That doesn’t mean that people should believe what is on that site, but they should know that alternative arguments are out there,” Jenkins said.   Other case studies included September 11, the anthrax investigation, the Oklahoma City bombing and the bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103.   Roxanne C. Shiels, director of Alumni Outreach, noted that participants did not have to read Jenkins’ book to join the seminar. “He took his book a step further. ... I liked how he challenged people to think in ways they may not have thought before.”   A discussion board allowed participants to communicate their thoughts to Jenkins. Some challenged his comments on the emotional subject, and Jenkins had an opportunity to respond.   Can anyone become a critical consumer? Jenkins says “Yes.” However, he added, “Wise does not mean infallible. People can learn to weed sources and tell which ones have a particular bias.” That skill, he added, can be applied to any subject—from criminal justice to health policy. An outreach program of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Penn State World Campus