Terror today is quite different than expressions of the repressed before 9/11. Liebes and Kampf (2007) analyzed this phenomenon and wrote about the recent trend of humanizing terrorists and turning them into celebrities. In their analysis they examined processes since 9/11 and new genres of reporting terror that encourage such a status upgrade.

Four main processes in the 1990s enabled terrorists to find a greater voice. First, connections among terrorist groups tightened around the world and terrorist ideology was able to spread across space. Al Qaeda and ISIS could now impact not only their geographical region but regions elsewhere in the world. Second, revolutionary communications technologies transformed the media landscape, and in doing so, transformed the journalist profession. When terrorists communicate directly with their audiences they are not mediated by socially responsible forces. Third, new competing media channels that are broadcast around the clock and viewed internationally. Finally, live disaster marathons after terror attacks have come to signal the pinnacle of relinquishing control of news broadcasts to terrorists. Socially responsible editing and censorship of news is not possible when streaming live from news outlets. Media outlets pursue the terrorists as legitimate news personas disconnected from their violence rather than as backdoor deviants whose only claim to notoriety is their extreme violence.

Multiple new genres of reporting terror since 9/11 have created platforms for terrorists to leverage. Importantly, the “soft” story format, such as those in weekend magazines and biographical TV equivalents, propel terrorists to fame. Soft news formats personalize and humanize the protagonists in biographical stories, as these stories are sociologically and psychologically oriented. Soft stories gloss over the political issues of terrorist actions and ideologies and do not talk about the acts of destruction and their ramifications. The terrorists are separated from their crimes by psychological makeup and circumstance. Such stories create empathy between the reader/viewer and the story’s protagonist, the terrorist. The processes that began in the 1990s has enabled worldwide relevance and reach of an increasing number of soft stories that unintentionally upgrade the status of terrorists to stars (Liebes & Kampf, 2007).

A type of soft story that contributes to the celebritized status given to terrorists are the articles and videos of today’s increasingly popular satire news websites and shows. Not only is satire news a new platform for soft stories of terrorists, but they have a virality factor because of their humor and professional production. Not only are terrorists upgraded to stars in the eyes of those who watch mainstream news or read political magazines, but they are becoming a cultural phenomenon outside of the political sphere.

Eretz Nehederet, SNL, Comedy Central, and The Onion are examples of satire outlets that celebritize terrorists in these outlets’ quest to produce viral satire content. For example, Eretz Nehederet’s “ISIS at the Eurovision” glamorizes the ISIS terror group and depicts its terrorists as budding stars on a stage (Eretz Nehederet, 2016). Treating ISIS’s flag the same as the flags of other countries imbues it with added international legitimacy, and saying Aziz’s name not only to the audience who watches Eretz Nehederet, but to anyone who views the clip because of its viral content and production value, and universal relevance, gives the real terrorist increased fame. SNL’s “Shark Tank” skit, featuring ISIS shows two fake ISIS terrorists pitching their terror group as a legitimate organization (SNL, 2014). Even though the Shark Tank actors who are being pitched to rejected the investment, the fact that SNL showcased the terror group’s capital makes an effective video to encourage real ISIS supporters

Analyzing satire news is important when dealing with the issue of the celebritization of terrorists in the media. Williams and Carpini (2011) explain that young people these days learn about reality through comedy and shows like SNL. Noel Diem (2015) explains that satire news is trusted and informs viewers more. He mentions a 2012 study that found that people who watch The Daily Show are more informed on average than people who watch Fox News, and that The Daily Show viewers tend to be younger and more educated on average than the audiences of mainstream news sources. Familiarity with topics in politics is highest in those who watch satire news compared to those who watch mainstream news sources (Bode, 2014) (chart in Appendix: Familiarity with Net Neutrality Rules). Satire news may be most attractive to their target audience when creating dynamic visual content (video clips) compared with articles (charts in Appendix: YouTube Subscriptions and Facebook Likes). As satire news YouTube channels are subscribed to by an increased number of people than are mainstream news channels, shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, SNL, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Eretz Nehederet have a large and viral platform from which to produce socially responsible satire.

In today’s media environment we cannot avoid soft stories about terrorists. We should deal with them - but in a more sophisticated way. In a way that does not make us identify with them. Fortunately, some satire news is catching on to their socially responsible role with the public.

John Oliver delivers a socially responsible satire address after the Paris attacks that occurred on Friday the 13, November 2015, when terrorists targeted a concert hall, a stadium, and multiple restaurants and bars, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. He talks about the terrorists responsible as “gigantic fucking assholes” and “working in service of an ideology of pure assholery” (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, 2015). He did not mention the terrorists or their terror group by name, thereby giving them no added notoriety, nor did he go into their psychological and sociological profiles, thereby not humanizing them or personalizing their stories. Instead he said, “F*** these a**holes,” delegitimizing their hateful justifications of their attacks and giving the audience no reason to empathize with them (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, 2015).

It is important to recognize the implications of soft stories on the process of celebritizing terrorists and terror organizations. One important goal for most terrorist is to attract attention to their cause. Any terrorist’s emphasis of drama as a theatrical production aims not at immediate casualties but at exposure on the world stage of mass media (Yarchi, Wolfsfeld, Sheafer, & Shenhav, 2013). The more that the media, including satire media, personalize and humanize terrorists as the protagonists of their stories, the more we are giving terrorists a platform to vocalize and be celebrated for their violent goals.

References

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Yarchi, M., Wolfsfeld, G., Sheafer, T., & Shenhav, S. R. (2013). Promoting stories about terrorism to the international news media: A study of public diplomacy. Media, War & Conflict, 6, 263-278. doi:10.1177/1750635213491179

Appendix