If there is one thing that terrorist organizations need, it is an audience. Terrorism needs a direct target, but it also needs indirect targets to scrutinize their actions and help them achieve their goals. So terrorism needs the persuasive element of the media. This serves as a propaganda machine. It's the ideal relationship with a terrorist organization. According to Raphael F. Perl (1997), “terrorists must have publicity in some form if they are to attract attention, inspire fear, and respect for their cause, if not for their act.” Therefore, the use of media would be instrumental in providing a larger audience and platform. To understand the relationship between terrorist and media it is essential to understand the four objectives of terrorists in using the media. According to Bridget Lebens Nacos (2007), terrorists' goals in using the media are to gain attention and awareness, recognition of their motives, gain respect and sympathy, and a quasi-legitimate status. First, terrorists want to stage a dramatic production, something that leaves those watching psychologically altered, inspired, or intimidated. The more people watch, the more damage caused. Secondly, there is a reason why such a production is staged: they want people to know why they do what they do, that there is an end goal they seek, be it political, religious or ideological. Furthermore, as Perl (1997) agrees, they "believe that the public 'needs help' to understand that their cause is just and that terrorist violence is the only course of action available to them against the superior evil forces of the state and establishment". Third, they want specific groups of people who may have similar beliefs to respect and admire them for what they...... middle of paper ......1-9.Average [Def. No. 2, 1]. (n.d.). In the Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/115635?rskey=NHXAcn&result=2#eidMedium [Def. II, 4a.]. (n.d.). In the Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/115772?redirectedFrom=mediumNacos, B.L. (2007). Mass-mediated terrorism: The central role of the media in terrorism and counterterrorism (2nd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.Perl, R. F. (1997, October 22). CRS: Terrorism, media and government. Congressional Research Reporting Services. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://fas.org/irp/crs/crs-terror.htmWeimann, G. (2008, September). The psychology of mass-mediated terrorism. American Behavioral Scientist, 52, 69-86. Retrieved from the Sage Journals database.