Stop giving terrorists the spotlight they're looking for

Turn on the TV after any terror attack, and what you see probably won't surprise you.

Dramatic cell phone footage of terrified people running away.

Mugshots of suspects constantly flashed on screen.

An act of terror suddenly becomes an obsession for 24-hour news outlets, playing right into the hands of terrorist groups like ISIS - according to Indira Lakshmanan.

Lakshmanan, chair in journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute and a columnist for the Boston Globe, believes that journalists can do better when it comes to reporting on terrorism. She says there are practical steps that journalists can take to make sure their stories are a public service rather than fear-mongering that benefits the terrorists.

Stop exaggerating your coverage

News outlets in Western countries tend to give a disproportionate amount of attention to terrorist attacks, according to Lakshmanan.

"You're statistically more likely in [the United States] to die in an auto accident, or by lightning strike, or in a bathtub, than in a terrorist attack by a foreign-born terrorist," she says.

Terrorism-related deaths decreased in the United Kingdom and other European countries compared to the 1980's, despite high profile attacks in recent years. 

Change the way you use language

Lakshmanan says we should avoid giving credit to terrorists for attacks.

Instead of saying ISIS claims responsibility for an attack, we should say they admit guilt. This is an important distinction according to Lakshmanan.

It's significant in the way that ISIS and its potential recruits consume [the] news...ISIS' own propagandists have made it clear that they use and exploit the Western media in an effort to appeal to vulnerable people and bring in more recruits. The more glamorous and more of a risk to so-called Western democracy they appear to be, the more exciting it is for young people suffering from anomie and dislocation to join a group like this.- Indira Lakshmanan

When U.S. President Donald Trump calls the perpetrators of the Manchester attacks a bunch of  "losers," some security experts say that's actually a better way to refer to them. In other words, it's better to disparage than glorify.

Remember the victims

News outlets might be more tempted to use images of bloody or gory scenes for clicks and ratings, but Lakshmanan insists that victims should be remembered as people, not body parts.

She says in the last terror attack there were examples of media outlets that focused their coverage on unity and tributes to victims.

She cites the U.K.'s Sky News, which posted a video of the Manchester police department announcing a zero tolerance policy for hate crimes in the aftermath of the attack through all of their social media channels. 

Another example is The Independent, sharing images of solidarity sent from all over the world. Lakshmanan says examples like these are an antidote to the vitriol of trolls and fake news.

"[It sends] an important and useful message that's trying to prevent further attacks from happening," she says.