Guidelines for media coverage of terrorist acts. Proposal for an information model of democratic accountability

Abstract

This article proposes an exegetical model, built from journalistic elements of terrorism, with six guidelines for reporting terrorist attacks and to protect democracy and victims´ interests. There are standards to do so, but some of them are confusing or forgotten. The aim of this article is to provide some ideas to reduce ambiguity and suggests that, contrary to the classical criteria, human interest should not be emphasized, terrorism should not be contextualized and images of terrorist violence should be shown to reduce its effects.