Radio and terrorism

The radio have a widespread use as a tool of communication. Since its invention in the late 19th century, it has been used for various purposes around the world. This article discusses radio as a political tool of propaganda in the context of terrorism; the article does not discuss radio broadcasts without a clear political motive.
Radio as a propaganda tool
Propaganda can be defined as the deliberate propagation of information presented in a way that is aimed to serve a political agenda. In short, the purpose is to effect the general opinion concerning a certain political subject.
To do this as efficiently as possible it is first of all necessary to reach as much of the target audience as possible, in order to increase the overall chance of gaining influence on the general opinion within this group.
A lot of different communication tools can be used to spread propaganda, ranging from simple word of mouth, in which information is passed verbally from one person to another, to distributed printed matter, eg. pamphlets, leaflets or newspapers; the latter form greatly increased in use with the invention of the printing press.
But these forms have som limitations. Word of mouth, the simplest form of disseminating information, works best in small, tightly knit communities. It's disadvantages include the difficulty of reaching a larger audience, that the propagation of the information through a population is largely uncontrollable, and that the actual information can change with every link that it passes through. Printed matter benefits from a more controlled spread of information, but requires somewhat advanced printing equipment to be efficient, and equally important, it requires that the recipients can read.
When radio was first used, its benefits for propaganda purposes was quickly discovered. The propagation of radio waves ensures a large cover area. At the same time information can be passed on evenly and near instantly over great distances, or in the words of Lenin,
:"Radio is a newspaper without paper and without ."
Radio does not require any specific skills to perceive other than understanding the language of the broadcast. Though it requires that the audience be in possession of a radio receiver, such equipment is quite easely attainable, and its use simple. Furthermore, several people can gather around and listen to one receiver.
There is a big difference in the way radio have been used by governments and by clandestine groups due to the conditions they have to work under. However, there are some general purposes that are common for most uses. Radio broadcasting can be used to:
# gain public support
# boost morale of supporters
# pass on information to active supporters
# intimidate opponents
The first is to try and influence the audiences opinion on a political subject by expressing ones view on things and giving information in the context that suits one's purpose better.
The second can be done by telling of victories and accomplishments in order to heighten the spirit of the supporters.
These two have a great deal of overlap, since victories display the strength of the broadcasting organization which can be an assisting factor when trying to gain support or recruit new followers.
The third is done by groups without proper communications infrastructure. They can use the radio transmissions to send vital information to active supporters through coded messages.
One example of the this was the way the Special Operations Executive of the British military used radio transmission during World War II to notify resistance groups in the Nazi-occupied areas of the time and place for airdrops of weapon supplies.
The fourth is closely connected with terrorism because as stated in the definition, terrorism can be just the threat of violence. Furthermore the spread of information about acts of violence is an important part of a terror campaign.
Radio supporting state terrorism
From early on, radio broadcasts was used to support what is commonly considered state terrorism.
In this context, the radio, as part of a larger propaganda campaign, was important because government controlled media can reinforce the feeling of the state being absolutely supreme, thereby making it easier for the authorities to gain acceptance for abusive policies. At the same time it can curb resistance by creating the image that people who do not agree with the official politics are alone, and by giving more or less obvious examples of what happens to all who oppose the regime. All this is part of a nation's political atmosphere, and the latter very important in the two examples listed below, where the governments managed to create a climate of fear in the public.
Stations used by states can be divided in three sub-groups:
*white are the official channels through which a government propagates its propaganda, with no attempt to hide either source or motive.
*gray have an obvious political agenda, but is untruthful concerning its source. E.g. a state that poses as a domestic resistance movement of a foreign country, to display opposition to the government, in an effort to disrupt the picture of the government being in complete control.
*black hides both the true purpose of the broadcast and the organization behind. This means broadcasts by one party to a conflict, while pretending to be from the other party, possibly in an effort to mock and ridicule the opponent, thereby lowering its status.
Governments can transmit from within the borders and therefore broadcasts don’t have to be limited by other restrictions than their own. They have the means to build radio stations with enough power to send to other countries, and to broadcast in many different launguages, and at the same time to produce the programs of the necessary quality to be used at "black" and "gray" stations. It is vital to be able to hide the true source of the broadcasts for these kinds of stations to be successful.
The Soviet Union
The Stalinst regime used various forms of propaganda to disseminate Marxist ideas, including a radio station broadcasting from an airplane to make it mobile.
Nazi Germany
Germany has an important history of radio propaganda too. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist (Nazi) regime was known for his firm belief in the efficacy of propaganda, and for the methods he employed.
Although he appears to have had the one basic assumption that all media should be employed simultaneously, and therefore didn't favour one media as such, he acknowledged the extensive reach of the radio, and its efficiency in spreading propaganda .
Radio was used not only within the German borders, as a way of consolidating their power, but Germany also transmitted to foreign contries as a means of promoting their policies. During World War II, Germany made a trans-European radio network to broadcast Hitler's speeches.
Nazi Germany also sponsored terror organizations outside their own borders. During the war they supplied the Irish Republican Army (IRA) with a radio transmitter, in hope of gaining influence on the tactics of the IRA, and to get coded military secrets sent to Germany. However, IRA instead used the radio transmitter for their own purposes in their campaign against the British rule.
Radio supporting sub-state terrorism
The radio have been involved in several ethno-nationalistic liberation struggles around the world. This section focuses on organizations that fight for 'liberation' against the government in their country. There are given two examples of successful liberation fights, where the organizations mentioned ended up attaining their goal, and then two examples of terrorist organizations that to this day still strive to gain independence. All of these four organizations are known to have used/use radio broadcasting as a part of their campaign.
The following definition of clandestine radio broadcasting will thus be appropriate:
:"Unofficial stations, mostly identified with specific underground organizations, that to gain a psychological or military advantage as well as to communicate, often via coded messages, with operatives in the field."
Where as Che Guevarra believed in the efficacy of the words spoken, that is the contents of the broadcasting, others lean towards the view that it is the mere symbolism of a resistance organization being able to maintain broadcasting that governments fear. By operating a station for an extended period of time, the myth that the government can easily crush any opposition is disspelled. It enhances image of the organization as a viable opposition force, and thereby reinforces their effort to gain support from the passive masses.
Successful historical examples
Here are given two examples of liberation struggles, where the radio played a major role in the ethno-national organizations successful attempt to gain independence from a colonial authority.
Israel
In the fight for an independent Israel out of the British Mandate of Palestine the radio have been called "a medium that was so important in the formation of the nation".
Haganah Radio started Hebrew language broadcasts around 1940 and was the most well-organized of the clandestine radio services in what was to become Israel. They ran at least three different radio stations which, after the independende in 1948, were merged into Kol Israel (Voice of Israel), the national Israeli radio service.
Besides Haganah, two other main underground resistance groups used clandestine radio transmissions, the Irgun and Lehi.
Lehi was the Israeli resistance organization that devoted most time and effort in radio broadcasting. Their transmissions are believed to have been somewhat better known than those of the Irgun, and their station was the only one to keep on broadcasting even through World War II.
The Irgun commander in charge of the raid, Mordechai Raanan, later explained: "I told the reporters that 254 were killed so that a big figure would be published, and so that Arabs would panic."
The deliberate exaggeration of the figure by the two groups shows that they perfectly fit the definition of terrorism; the purpose of the violence was to instill fear in a wider target audience, in this case, an entire rival ethnic/religious group, which they wanted out of the country. It has been stated that the broadcasts were a considerable factor in the Palestinian Arab exodus from Israel.
But in 1956, the resistance organization National Liberation Front (NFL) aired a program carried through Egypt. The program was called "Voice of Fighting Algeria", and it supported the revolution by opposing the French control of the country.
As word spread about this new 'front' in the war, things took a drastic change: the native population started to buy radio receivers. Suddenly the radio became the way to obtain information about the revolution. It shifted from being part of the "occupier's arsenal" to be the "primary means of resisting".
As the French authorities tried to silence the station by jamming it, the listeners had to make a further effort to receive the information they sought after, only involving them even more in the revolutionary struggle. The prevailing thought was that the harder the French tried to disrupt "The Voice", the more they probably had to conceal, and as people searched the wavelengths they found other voices..
All this time the French tried to counter the effect of the broadcasts by doing their own, and jamming as many as possible of the foreign transmissions. But as both Tunisia and Morocco joined in at broadcasting propaganda supporting the revolution, the authorities failed to gain control over the airwaves.
This example show how radio can be used as a tool for many purposes in a struggle of two-way terrorism. At first it is used by a colonial power to display their superiority. Then foreign nations used the range of radio technology to spark unrest, and suddenly a change occurred, making radio broadcasting an important part of uniting the natives for a common cause of independence.
:"In the end, Algerians owed a measure of their independence to the 'unquestionably effective' device of the radio - which shaped opinions, re-oriented perceptions and united Algerians in a common struggle."
At the very first day of this conflict, the Israeli military the radio station, indicating that the Israelis acknowledged the station as an important part of the Hezbollah communications infrastructure.
LTTE (Sri Lanka)
In Sri Lanka, the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which also goes by the name The Tamil Tigers, have been fighting for an independent state for the Tamil part of the Sri Lankan inhabitants, a Tamil homeland, since the mid-1970s. From the beginning the group focused on elitism and after the aforementioned Hezbollah suicide attack in 1983 the leadership of LTTE decided that this method would be the best solution to achieve their goal. Since then the group have been known for its suicide bombings.
A part of the organization's effort to appear organized and capable have been to operate a broadcasting service called Voice of Tigers This station is a part of their quasi-governmental structure in the northern parts of Sri Lanka which is largely controlled by the organization. The station have been bombed several times by the Sri Lankan Air force, latest in October 2006. An action which was condemned by the International Federation of Journalists, because the station is somewhat internationally recognized.

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