Why would newspapers and mass media call them freedom fighters and militant instead of Terrorists?

Answer 1

"Freedom fighter" is a loaded term. People who are self-described "freedom fighters" tend to be called assassins, rebels, or terrorists by their foes. Hence the saying "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". During the Cold War, the term 'freedom fighter' was widely used by the United States and other Western Bloc countries to describe rebels in countries controlled by communist states or otherwise under the influence of the Soviet Union, including rebels in Hungary, the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua, UNITA in Angola and the multi-factional mujahideen in Afghanistan. However, 'rebels' of the same nature in modern day Iraq are labeled as insurgents by the same United States.

The term freedom fighter, while indicating favor of some political group, often does not reflect any actual political position of those fighting — central to this is a dispute over the meaning of freedom itself and whether a group in question can be said to actually fight for the purpose of establishing freedom. This was particularly true in Nicaragua, where the US government was inclined to a favorable view of the Sandinista movement until some time after it accumulated power, when it backed the Contra rebels. Of all political labels, freedom fighter is perhaps the most blunt term for "friend" — some think that it signals an unwillingness to abandon moral support regardless of methods, an unbreakable alliance between players, perhaps even proxies in an unconventional war.

The ambiguity of the term freedom makes the use of the label freedom fighter particularly useful for propaganda purposes. It is relatively simple to show that the "enemy" has done something which violates one of the many possible meanings of the word freedom, which allows the propagandist to appear to take the moral high ground by fighting for the cause of freedom. In addition to this, propagandists commonly use virtue words like "freedom", "social justice", "liberation", and "helping the poor", which tend to evoke positive images in the target audience in order to attach those images and feelings to his cause.

Certain media agencies, notably the BBC and Reuters, except in attributed quotes, refuse to use the phrase "terrorist" or "freedom fighter", in favour of neutral terms such as "militant", "guerrilla", "assassin", paramilitary or militia to avoid the editorialising implicit in the use of such words.

(However the BBC in the 1970s and 1980s, when reporting on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, did refer to the Provisional Irish Republican Army as terrorists, while referring to members of loyalist armed groups such as the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, who employed identical tactics, as "paramilitaries". They continued to use neutral terminology of other "insurgent" conflicts around the world).

Answer 2

I'd say the media are scared. People sometimes get murdered for criticizing terrorists. I don't require the media to risk their lives.

I want terrorists to be called terrorists, but I don't work in a building with "New York Times" written in big letters on the side. It's not my neck on the line.

As long as people know the media isn't in the business of telling the truth. The media is in the business of selling more papers and getting more viewers. Nothing noble about it.

Answer 3

It's a simple matter of perception. Let's say China invaded and occupied your country. You, being a patriotic citizen of your country, took up arms to force them to leave. Undoubtedly, you would consider yourself a "freedom fighter," while the Chinese would consider you a "terrorist."

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Answer 4

It depends on which side of the issue you are on... Think about what the British newspapers must have said about Our Founding Fathers... to the Brits they were terrorists. The Boston Tea Party could be called an act of terrorism, especially if its your tea getting dumped!

Answer 5

Because they are. We invaded. They are try to get rid of an invading force.