海角大神

Sometimes, stories hit close to home for our writers. New York reporter Harry Bruinius used to live near the bike path where a suspected terrorist mowed down cyclists and pedestrians, killing eight people. "That was a regular 鈥� almost daily 鈥� place where I would jog and just take walks with friends," he says.

One of a few areas of agreement among a divided Congress: For all their technological sophistication, social media giants had a rather large blind spot during the 2016 election. As Sen. Al Franken (D) of Minnesota put it:聽"American political ads and Russian money, rubles. How could you not connect those two dots?"

The tension between Madrid and Catalonia might seem like a tailor-made opportunity for European Union leaders to step in as mediators, but the EU has made it clear that its goal is the status quo.

Being a journalist has never been easy in Russia. But a new climate of fear is forcing liberal opposition journalists to flee the country.

Texas reporter Henry Gass pedaled along with Sara Dykman for 40 of the 8,000 miles she's covered so far to bring us this next story 鈥� about a quest to save an iconic butterfly.

In defiance of the fear-based approach to terrorist acts by most news media, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced after the Oct. 31 truck attack in Manhattan that the killing spree by one young man 鈥渄id not instill terror鈥� among New Yorkers. Indeed, the city鈥檚 Halloween parade was not canceled. Life mostly went on.

And the governor鈥檚 point was made. We must not be complicit in the Islamic State鈥檚 aim of spreading self-debilitating fear.

The Islamic State (ISIS) appears worried that an attitude of calm and aplomb is prevailing. The militant group has lately lost its strongholds in the Middle East, not only to superior military forces but also to the lack of support among Muslims forced to live under its rule. Yet New York police officers reported that the driver of the truck, Sayfullo Saipov, left handwritten notes that essentially said ISIS will 鈥渆ndure forever.鈥�

Not quite. What really endures does not rely on regular acts of violence against innocent people.

ISIS keeps sowing the seeds of its demise by nudging its dispersed followers into violence, such as vehicular attacks.

The motives or mental state of the perpetrators as well as whether they are caught matters less than how people react to their violence. Was there unnecessary panic beyond the immediate scene that caused harmful overreaction? Did journalists, politicians, and others quell fears or exploit them? Did terrorism experts agree on the best steps in preventing more attacks?

The desire to understand motives is understandable. It is a sign of a hope that society can reach would-be terrorists in time. In Mr. Saipov鈥檚 case, a preacher at his mosque in Tampa, Fla., tried to calm his extremism. 鈥淚 used to tell him, 鈥楬ey, you are too much emotional. Read books more. Learn your religion first,鈥� the preacher told The New York Times.

Such words of calm to a troubled individual are the necessary opposite to ISIS鈥檚 tactic of provoking a contagion of fear. The best reaction to terror is to double down on providing the light of hope and unity. That, and not numbing, self-perpetuating fear, is the best answer to hate and violence.