Jihadi videos: internet vs TV

In the latest issue of The National Interest I analyzed the political differences between the kind of bin Laden speeches produced for and broadcast by Arab satellite television stations like al-Jazeera and the kind of jihadi videos produced for and disseminated through internet forums.   The former, broadcast on satellite television, were aimed at a mass audience and sought the kind of rhetoric, narrative, and imagery that would appeal to the Arab "median voter" - someone who cares deeply about issues like Palestine, Iraq or local corruption but isn't really sold on al-Qaeda style Islamism.    The latter, disseminated through the jihadi forums, were aimed at an already interested and at least partially mobilized audience - someone who cares enough to go searching through various internet sites looking for the latest Zarqawi video.  How does that argument hold up in light of the near-simultaneous release of major public statements by bin Laden and Zarqawi?

First, bin Laden's tape very much fit the mold, even without the video.  Released directly (evidently) to al-Jazeera and broadcast there, it clearly spoke to the "median Arab/Muslim voter" and not only to the already converted.  Its references were to issues already salient to mainstream Arab audiences - the Danish cartoons, Palestine, Iraq, even the Sudan - rather than focusing on issues of concern primarily to the jihadist base.   Bin Laden's comments on Palestine clearly showed his willingness to be pragmatic:  if Arabs were upset by the way the West (and Arab regimes friendly with the West) were treating Hamas, then ideological purity (rejection of participation in elections) be damned. 

Second, Zarqawi's video also largely played to type.   Released on the internet to Zarqawi friendly forums, it aimed at an audience of committed jihadists.  The prominent featuring of Zarqawi personally struck me as another response (like this one a few weeks ago) to the widely-disseminated rumours of his demotion from a position of leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq.   The themes and imagery echoed many al-Qaeda recruitment videos I've seen, and the tape seemed intended more for asserting Zarqawi's leadership of a successful jihad than for Western or mainstream consumption.

But as well as the broad contours of the two videos fit the simple dichotomy I proposed in that article, other aspects of them challenge it - in particular, the extremely rapid migration of Zarqawi's video from the internet onto satellite television, alongside Ayman al-Zawahiri's video released directly to the internet last month.  Whether these videos should be seen as complementary or competitive is a fascinating question which I won't dwell on now, but to which I hope to return soon. 

What really interests me here is the wide and fast broadcast of the Zarqawi video.  Where in the past Zarqawi's video would have been consumed primarily by an audience of jihadis and prospective jihadis, this time it was picked and widely broadcast within days - reaching the same audience as bin Laden's, or even bigger since its visuals got so much play.  And not only by al-Jazeera or even the Arab media:  several colleagues told me this morning of seeing the video on CNN, MSNBC and other American networks.  The rapid move of Zarqawi's video from the internet to television broadcast is important for a couple of reasons. 

First, and most obviously, it dramatically increases the reach of the jihadis who had been producing primarily for the internet forums.   Whether that strengthens them is not immediately obvious.  Since they were produced for a distinctive audience, they might not travel well and could backfire when viewed by different audiences with different norms and expectations.  But if the Zarqawi tape establishes a pattern, it could change the production of the videos - certainly these producers have proven very adept at making such adjustments in the past.  According to some sources, beheading videos are largely gone already, replaced by videos glorifying successful operations against American or Iraqi military targets.

Second, the widespread broadcast of Zarqawi's video powerfully reinforces an argument I've made about the increasingly impossibility of controlling media content.   As the Arab media environment becomes more and more competitive and diverse, no single station - not even al-Jazeera - can unilaterally set standards any more.   If al-Jazeera chose not to air bin Laden or Zawahiri tapes, I argued, some other station would do so and get its own temporary ratings boost.   When al-Jazeera refused to air a third Jill Carroll video, a private Kuwaiti TV station did.   The trajectory of this Zarqawi video pretty much clinches the argument:  if al-Jazeera had refused to air bin Laden's tape, its producers would have just put it up on the internet and within days every TV station in the world would be airing it.   That's not a normative argument about whether or not al-Jazeera should air the tapes, just an acknowledgement of reality in today's Arab and global media environment. 

One video does not make for a trend, of course.  But just the other day, al-Arabiya broadcast an al-Qaeda video found on the internet, and last month an Ayman al-Zawahiri video got wide play not too long ago even though al-Jazeera chose not to air it (an al-Jazeera official told me that they didn't air it because it was an old video circulating on the internet and therefore neither newsworthy nor an exclusive).   Nor is it entirely new - all those hostage videos from Iraq followed a similar path.  But it does seem to me that something different is going on here.. something worth thinking about.

Comments

[almasdar]

Presumably broadcasters were also interested in Zarqarwi's video because viewers wanted to get a look at him

[jinnilyyah]

More than exposing new audiences to different message styles from al-Qaeda, I think the spread of internet videos to television will contaminate the purity of al-Qaeda's web audience. Bin Laden warned against television in his tape.
Most webdizens, even jihaadi ones, frequent the same web sites daily.
On television there are commercials, and music, and shows are interleaved with news programs with gorgeous westernized anchorwomen, and there is always the temptation to surf to the latest Haifa Whebbi music video. ;)

[musa]

Have you read the International Crisis Group's report on Jihadist messaging? If so, what did you think?

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3953&l=1

[No Preference]

On television there are commercials, and music, and shows are interleaved with news programs with gorgeous westernized anchorwomen, and there is always the temptation to surf to the latest Haifa Whebbi music video. ;)

That might make the jihadis angrier and more fixed in their opinions.

I think that really extreme jihadis may believe that they have a dispensation to indulge in western decadence. IIRC the 911 bombers frequented strip joints prior to their crime, no doubt convinced that all would be forgiven for the purity of their sacrifice. Little did they know . . ..

[tequila]

I don't think most of these guys have somehow avoided TV all their lives, Jinilyyah. Most likely things like Lebanese chicks gyrating simply represents to them another Western imperialist incursion. Remember that the most dedicated, dangerous terrorists like the 9/11 pilots lived for years in the West.

[jinnilyyah]

ha ha, i love that Onion satire.
It is true that the 9/11 hijackers immersed themselves in strippers before the act-- did they also indulge in alchohol?
I agree they expected to be forgiven any sins for their martyrdom. So that behavior was pleasurable for them.
tequila, true too...but the hijackers could validate their indulgence with their upcoming sacrifice-- a devout jihaadi without a martyrdom plan would have to sneak peeks.
Why would Osama fear tv/radio if western images just further inflame his soldiers to their cause?

[No Preference]

It is true that the 9/11 hijackers immersed themselves in strippers before the act-- did they also indulge in alchohol?

There are reports to that effect. Click here and search for "Las Vegas".

[Joshua Landis]

Zarqawi's web video was also produced, or, at least aired on TV back to back with Maliki's inaugral address to the Iraqi people as PM of Iraq.

Sami Moubayed has written a very good article on this competition.
http://www.mideastviews.com/articleview.php?art=111

Here is a quote:

Zarqawi's speech, initially released through the Internet on April 21, was aired on Arabic satellite television within the same hour as Maliki's interview, the first since he was nominated prime minister on April 22. Both men were speaking from Iraq. One represented the state, the other spoke for the outlaws. Both were speaking about the future of Iraq. And both were addressing the Sunni community of Iraq, in dramatically different logic.

Without proper statistics, it is a sure guess that more people were listening to Zarqawi than Maliki. The 39-year-old rebel greatly overshadows the 56-year-old premier, because he is the younger speaker, speaking sentimental revolutionary language that many disgruntled Iraqi young people want to hear.

These young people are poor and angry - and they have arms, plenty of arms - that they can use against everyone and everything that threatens their interests, be it Maliki, the Iraqi Shi'ites, Iran or the United States.

In the back-to-back interviews, Maliki wore a neatly pressed Western suit, with an Iraqi flag decorating his office. Zarqawi was filmed from the wildness of the Iraqi desert, wearing a black outfit, bearded, and sitting next to a rifle. He clearly has gained much weight since the last pictures of him were released in 2004.

His 34-minute video was decorated with computer graphics, verses from the Holy Koran and a clip of Osama bin Laden praising the Iraqi insurgency, meant to raise the morale of the Iraqi fighters and strengthen Zarqawi's credentials as bin Laden's man in Iraq.

The video also showed a pair of rockets created by al-Qaeda - much to the horror of the world - called al-Qaeda I and al-Quds I. They were created, Zarqawi claimed, "to bomb enemy sites". The film came two days before triple terrorist attacks targeted a tourist resort in Egypt, killing 23 people.

These attacks, and Zarqawi's presence, are a clear reminder to the world that terrorism still lives, is still very strong, and is able to strike at any minute. To say the least, the terrorists are not losing the battle against the United States.

[Moloch-Agonistes]

Aardvark: You seem to be suggesting that collectively, Arab news channels do have quite a bit of power to shape the form, and even the content of jihadi messaging--but only if they continue to air their tapes. It's a clever response to the anti-Jazeera jihadists. Wean Zarqawi and crew away from more barbaric tactics like the beheadings by giving their horror-show "viral" ad campaigns airplay.

Joshua: He did look fat. This guy thought so too.