Brussels attacks: Hijacking terror for political points

A look at the coverage of the Brussels attacks and the politics behind it; plus, the red lines in Morocco's media.


On Tuesday, Brussels became the second capital city in Western Europe in less than four months to experience a deadly bomb attack.

Like the Paris attacks, the story attracted wall-to-wall coverage. But also like Paris, the reporting raised the question: Why does the media focus so heavily on this story when equally deadly attacks occur in Ankara, Bamako and Baghdad?

In the second wave of media coverage came the political spin - the news anchors, pundits and politicians who have used the attacks in Brussels to advance their own agendas.

Discussion quickly turned to the perceived threat of the refugees - despite the two suicide bombers being Belgian nationals - and in the US it even revived the debate around torture.