1991: Hostage freed from Lebanon

On Dec. 5, 1991, Newsday's editorial page welcomed home American journalist Terry Anderson, freed a day earlier after being held hostage by Islamic militants for 2,454 days in Lebanon.

Hostage of Jihad, Hostage of Media;

Plight of Terry Anderson made worse by visibility

Welcome back, Terry Anderson!

When you were finally released Wednesday, almost seven years after you were captured, the nation's hostage heart was also set free. We all rejoice for you and your family.

You were just doing your job when you were taken. You never meant to become a symbol, a haunting figure peering out of the flash-bleached Polaroid photographs periodically sent to news agencies by your captors, a constant reminder of the helplessness of this most powerful of nations when confronted with the surrealistic pathology of Mideast terrorism.

Yet you became the longest-held American hostage largely because of a perversely ironic twist: You, a part of the news media, became the ultimate media hostage. The more attention your own colleagues focused on your plight, and the more successful your family was in bringing your story to the nation's attention, the more valuable you became to your captors. Eventually, it became evident that the more that was written or broadcast about you, the more likely you were to be the very last hostage to be let go. As you indeed were. This realization may have eventually motivated the appropriate and gradual attenuation of the intense press coverage of your story.

Ever since international terrorism and hostage-taking became integral parts of the political stage, members of the news media have been made uncomfortable by the role they played in this drama. Political terrorists and the news media are tied in a symbiotic relationship. They feed on each other. Terrorists need the media to be effective. And a free press cannot ignore the compelling public interest created by hostage captures or acts of terror. As a matter of national policy, ignoring hostage-takers' demands is the only workable course of action. Governments can hold to that course. The press and other news media must do some serious soul-searching of their own about their role and their responsibilities in future hostage dramas.

But for now, Terry, just be happy to get home. Have the merriest holiday season of your life. Your release has brightened ours.