While news coverage of terrorist incidents has generally been responsible, a small percentage of journalists has caused problems that could have endangered lives or encouraged the emulation of the event by others. A news blackout would be counterproductive, since such an extraordinary action would probably stimulate fears that the threat is greater than it actually is. Further, it would undermine confidence in the government's commitment to democratic principles and openness to public scrutiny. Any practical solution to the problems associated with media coverage of a terrorist incident depends upon the voluntary cooperation of the media. The police can facilitate responsible media coverage by releasing timely, factual, and up-to-date information regularly from a central location accessible to all news reporters. The media should not indiscriminately report on police operations live. Such reports may be in error, and even if true, give a tactical advantage to the terrorists that will endanger lives. Also, police negotiators should not have to compete with the news media for the time and attention of the terrorists. This occurs when media personnel tie up public telephone lines into the terrorists. All conversations between the media and the terrorists should be under the discretion of the police, since this may be used as a bargaining point in negotiations. The media must also guard against adverse pretrial publicity and contamination of the crime scene. These can become grounds for a mistrial or dismissal of the case in subsequent prosecution of the terrorists.