Fighting the Media Jihad

Still think killing terrorists is all it will take to win this thing? Think again.

Newswise:

Jihadis place a great deal of emphasis on developing comprehensive public relations and communication strategies to aid their side in the media war.

What an incredible smell you've discovered! You think maybe the terrorists media allies would be limited to the Arab News (the official organ of the house of Saud) and al Jazeera, but you'd be wrong. Try the two biggies as well: the AP and Reuters, both of which are great at spinning things exactly as the Islamists plan.

“Their strategies are crafted after careful audience analysis and message adaptation, two of the most fundamental rules underlying any communication or public relations campaign,” write the authors of a report released this week titled: “Communication and Media Strategy in the Jihadi War of Ideas.” ...

Professor Steven Corman, who co-authored the report with graduate student Jill Schiefelbein, says that in his experience “people are surprised the jihadis think of media as a weapon.”

Yeah, a lot of people are surprised. None of you, my dear paduan readers, but people. You know, retards and the like.

For example, in a letter to Emir Al-Momineen, Osama bin Laden writes, “It is obvious that the media war in this century is one of the strongest methods; in fact, its ratio may reach 90% of the total preparation for the battles.”

And, I'll add, a great deal of the media strategy uses the internet.

“First, they must legitimate their movement by establishing its social and religious viability, while engaging in violent acts that on their face seem to violate the norms of civilized society and the tenets of Islam.

Hence, the jihadis go to lengths at explaining why it is in line with Muslim norms to cut the heads off the infidels and Zionists. It's a way of rationalizing it to the public.

Second, they aim to propagate their movement by spreading messages to sympathetic audiences in areas where they want to expand.

A big way they do this is by showing images of civilian victims, and then lay the blame squarely on the U.S., Israel, etc.

Third, they seek to intimidate their opponents

Blowing shit up and killing people has that affect.

“Jihadis pursue these strategies using sophisticated, modern methods of communication and public relations,” notes Corman. For example, there’s evidence in the documents that the jihadis segment audiences and adapt their message to the audience, he says.

For instance, some jihadis in Iraq have tailored specific messages for consumption in the U.S.

“They place great importance on having good slogans and on after-action reviews to determine what worked and what didn’t,” Corman says. Jihadis use some of the same PR techniques used by large corporations; they deploy disinformation campaigns and coordinate communication with operations, the researchers write in the report.

In particular, the report notes that “jihadis are technically savvy and intent on pushing jihad into the sphere of new media.” The jihadis view new media, especially Internet-based communication and information technologies, “as a platform for global operations and virtual jihad.”

I absolutely concur with the authors of the report. If we are serious about winning this thing, more has to be done to fight enemy propaganda.

Hat tip: Rebecca

Posted by: Rusty at 12:24 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 547 words, total size 4 kb.