tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/james-foley-11985/articlesJames Foley – The Conversation2014-09-08T05:26:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/313832014-09-08T05:26:54Z2014-09-08T05:26:54ZThere is nothing ‘medieval’ about Islamic State atrocities – they’re just cruel and brutal<p>In Pulp Fiction, when Marcellus Wallace tells his captor and tormentor Zed that “I’m gonna get medieval on your ass”, we are spared further details, which is just as well since it involves a pair of pliers and a blow torch. </p>
<p>To Marcellus, “medieval” clearly means acting with cruelty towards a helpless captive, and similar thinking lies behind the use of the word to describe the murder of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff carried out, and broadcast to the world, by Islamic State. Everyone from UK deputy prime minister <a href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/islamic-state/60286/uk-could-join-bombing-runs-against-is-at-end-of-next-week">Nick Clegg</a> to US foreign secretary <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kerry-building-modern-coalition-fight-islamic-state-militants-129077561">John Kerry</a> has used the word to express their horror at these awful crimes.</p>
<p>“<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/19/medieval-cruelty-in-modern-times-isis-beheads-american-journalist.html">Medieval cruelty in modern times</a>” proclaimed Christopher Dickey in The Daily Beast. Dickey referred to Foley being beheaded “as if he were a captive taken in medieval combat”.</p>
<h2>Bad old days?</h2>
<p>There are a number of things going on when we describe something as “medieval”. Let’s look at the word first. “Medieval” comes from the Latin <em>medium aevum</em>, “the middle period”. The term was invented by Renaissance scholars to describe – and dismiss – the 1,000 years of perceived backwardness that separated their world from antiquity. So the word has always contained the potential for condemnation. In history, to a large extent this has been lost. We still talk of “the Middle Ages” because it is a convenient term for the millennium stretching from the fall of Rome to the Reformation – frankly nobody can think of a better one. </p>
<p>But was it brutal? Taken in the round, the period was no more violent than what came before or afterwards. The 15th, 16th and 17th centuries knew as much sickening cruelty as the 12th, 13th and 14th. Witness the genocide of native Americans, the burning of so-called witches, or the horrors of the French wars of religion and the Thirty Years War. </p>
<p>The flip side was the life-enhancing creativity that you find everywhere in the Middle Ages, in its art, literature and music. This has not gone unnoticed. With a few exceptions like Pulp Fiction, describing something as “medieval” in order to denigrate it came close to vanishing in recent times.</p>
<h2>A poor choice of words</h2>
<p>So why has it resurfaced in media coverage of the killings carried out by Islamic State?</p>
<p>I suspect there are two reasons behind it. One is circumstance. What makes theses videos especially horrific is the victims’ decapitation, a fate reminiscent of a pre-gunpowder, that is, medieval, society. In point of fact, most captives taken in medieval combat would have been kept alive with a view to ransom or exchange. </p>
<p>It’s true that on occasion they were killed. After the battle of Agincourt in 1415, when Henry V thought his French prisoners might manage to overpower their captors, he ordered them all massacred. It’s been suggested that the prisoners were still wearing all their armour except their helmets, so the quickest way to dispatch them would have been to stab them in the face, a horrendous idea.</p>
<p>This much is understandable. But I think there is another train of thought going on, and it’s one that western commentators would do well to be cautious about. </p>
<p>Both the use of torture and execution without trial slowly – and very selectively – diminished in Europe from the 18th century onwards. It was the spread of Enlightenment ideas about human rights that saw their condemnation not just as immoral but also as backward ways of behaving. In other words Europe became more civilised. </p>
<p>It’s unwise to apply to any group waging war on western values words that derive from a European historical evolution. It carries overtones of cultural superiority – “they haven’t caught up yet” - which sustains misguided beliefs and may even help them recruit others to their cause. </p>
<p>Better by far to stick to generic terms such as “cruel” or “brutal”. A word like “medieval” makes for colourful copy, but it isn’t accurate or wise: leave it to Quentin Tarantino.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Norman Housley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In Pulp Fiction, when Marcellus Wallace tells his captor and tormentor Zed that “I’m gonna get medieval on your ass”, we are spared further details, which is just as well since it involves a pair of pliers…Norman Housley, Professor of History, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/312532014-09-03T16:04:25Z2014-09-03T16:04:25ZAs IS killings mount, what are Cameron’s options in Iraq?<p>With Islamic State atrocities mounting – and an <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1329209/is-beheading-militants-threaten-brit-hostage">explicit threat</a> made to a British citizen being held there – UK prime minister David Cameron is under pressure from some to act. But how? After all, recent experience of military intervention there isn’t encouraging.</p>
<p>The original 1990 Gulf War arguably laid much of the groundwork for action in Iraq after the 9/11 attacks on New York. George Bush senior refused to keep the tanks rolling to Baghdad and pushed for a Kurdish uprising against Saddam. Washington’s neo-conservatives, enraged by Bush’s actions, eventually got their way with Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003. With this action, Tony Blair made good on his promise to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with America after the Twin Tower attacks.</p>
<p>In those heady days of early 2003, in the run-up to the invasion, one voice of scepticism raised a pertinent point which fell on deaf ears. Colin Powell, George W Bush’s increasingly isolated Secretary of State, invoked the dictum often associated with well-known chintzy homeware store Pottery Barn when he warned: “if you break it, you own it”. Bush may be gone, but responsibility for ownership of post-Saddam Iraq passed to Barack Obama and David Cameron. And the product is still very much broken.</p>
<p>The similarly chaotic civil conflict in neighbouring Syria, which began in 2011, now seems to be one of the biggest forces driving unrest in Iraq. The remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq merged with Syrian Islamist forces to become the Islamic State, making an audacious push into Northern Iraq.</p>
<h2>Caught napping</h2>
<p>IS appears to be one of the most organised, well-armed and effective insurgent organisations to have operated in the Middle East for some time. Now with two high-profile murders behind them and another threatened, Obama and Cameron are reassessing their policy options.</p>
<p>The West seems to have been caught unawares by the rise of IS. This is in large part a result of the Iraq War’s toxic legacy. Governments are loath to launch more regime-changing interventions, which only seems to energise violent sub-state organisations. They take advantage of security vacuums in countries where weak governance has provided ample opportunity for extremism to flourish.</p>
<p>So far Downing Street has eschewed calls for direct intervention but David Cameron did indicate that the UK was “ready to help” fulfil a military-coordinated aid mission to assist minority Christian and Yazidi groups fleeing the IS onslaught. This is neither direct intervention nor non-intervention. It is an example of indirect intervention – an increasingly popular option for world leaders.</p>
<h2>Third time lucky</h2>
<p>The decision made at the recent emergency EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/uk-britain-arms-supply-kurdish-forces-iraq-isis">provide weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga</a> militias stands as the most telling of all the policy responses so far though.</p>
<p>A proxy-war strategy now appears to be the default position for those lacking the political will to intervene but who are sick of their wringing hands. But this is a dangerous halfway house in which to take refuge. It lacks both the moral urgency of a humanitarian intervention and the sanctity of a refusal to get involved.</p>
<p>The new foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has indicated that the UK would “favourably” consider requests from Kurdish groups for British weapons. This represents a third attempt by the UK to reassert some form of control over the state of Iraqi politics and security in under three decades. But this new scenario, which essentially sees the outsourcing of responsibility and risk to a non-state proxy, is fraught with danger.</p>
<h2>Proxy war problems</h2>
<p>The undertaking of a proxy war against IS in Iraq holds a three-fold set of problems. First is the danger of long-term dependence. The Kurdish region has been the most stable in Iraq and is benefiting from its oil-rich resources. But its semi-autonomous government has been left exposed by the frailties of the broader Iraqi body politic that new prime minister Haider al-Abadi has to strengthen has his first priority.</p>
<p>The flow of arms to the Peshmerga in the short-term may stem the flow of IS incursions into Kurdistan, but in the long-run it reminds the outside world of Iraq’s inability to secure its own borders and may increase calls for outright Kurdish independence, requiring strong sponsorship from the West.</p>
<p>The second major consequence of launching a proxy war is the potential intensification of the violence. Downing Street has made noises about the need to put a halt to IS atrocities but flooding a volatile region with more weapons may cause greater problems down the line. There is often an assumption on behalf of interventionist powers that the adoption of a proxy war strategy is the quickest way to bring a war to a swift end by indirectly allowing one side to gain an advantage in terms of manpower, training or weaponry. But the understanding that proxy interventions actually prematurely end an existing conflict belies evidence that on the whole they actually prolong such conflicts largely because a weak warring faction is boosted to the point of creating stalemate.</p>
<h2>New buyers beware</h2>
<p>The third problem is one of conflict over-spill. Cameron and his new foreign and defence secretaries are basing their new Iraq policy on the crude political assumption that “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”. Yet they run the severe risk of creating unintended, counter-productive consequences once the war is over. Such “blowback” can be high profile or subtle, immediate or delayed in its manifestation. It should therefore be of little surprise if the Turkish government is getting increasingly anxious about the chances of UK-provided guns eventually getting into the hands of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party insurgents, with whom Turkish security forces have been fighting a bloody conflict for decades.</p>
<p>British intervention in Iraq since the end of the Cold War has moved from limited war to major ground war and counter-insurgency to a new era of indirect intervention. David Cameron’s refusal to recall parliament to debate the Iraq crisis was, he feels, vindicated by the government’s “clear” strategy on Iraq. But the adoption of a proxy war as a way of dealing with Iraq could not have settled on a more ambiguous strategic approach to the problem. Iraq may have been broken a while ago, but the new buyer should still beware.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Mumford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With Islamic State atrocities mounting – and an explicit threat made to a British citizen being held there – UK prime minister David Cameron is under pressure from some to act. But how? After all, recent…Andrew Mumford, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/312562014-09-03T14:11:55Z2014-09-03T14:11:55ZSecond execution video shows that Islamic State has a grim strategic plan<p>Islamic State’s <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/report-isis-video-purportedly-shows-execution-steven-sotloff">brutal killing of Steven Sotloff</a>, coming on the heels of <a href="https://theconversation.com/james-foley-islamic-state-and-the-medias-treatment-of-terrorism-30763">James Foley’s execution</a>, is intended to shock and appal. It has done just that. </p>
<p>But any response to the executions must recognise that Islamic State (IS) is not just a loose collective of militants; it is a highly sophisticated group, and as the execution videos have shown, it’s been cautiously and intelligently planning ahead for some time. </p>
<p>IS is clearly tightly organised and effectively run. Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is a tough and single-minded man who, like bin Laden, sees IS’s chosen fight in absolute, eschatological terms; it has an intense religious underpinning, will stretch decades into the future, and is not just of this life. </p>
<p>Bahgdadi has around him a group of highly intelligent operators, some of them with a decade or more’s combat experience – including in Iraq, where they were pitted against well-armed and well-trained US soldiers and marines.</p>
<p>IS has also shown it’s ready to compromise when it is in its own interests. Witness the close working relationship with Ba’athists in running the city of Mosul after the IS takeover. One could almost say it is single-minded in its willingness to compromise in its pursuit of longer-term, grander aims.</p>
<h2>Tailored output</h2>
<p>The group has easily outperformed various other Jihadist groups in its use of social media, tailoring its output on any particular issue - such as the recent executions - to target it at a number of specific audiences. These include Western governments, Western public opinion, young Muslims in the West, the wider Muslim world, and in particular disaffected youth across the Middle East.</p>
<p>Most importantly, IS’s leadership will have expected the West to deploy some kind of force once the group came to be seen as a serious threat in the oil-rich Middle East. This is why hostages have been kidnapped and held for months or years. Once US air strikes started, IS was well prepared to use the brutal option of hostage executions in response.</p>
<p>The executions may have been accelerated in response to the intensity of recent US air strikes - <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/aug/27/us-military-isis-air-strikes-in-iraq-day-by-day-breakdown">well over a hundred to date</a> - but they would nevertheless have been intended at some stage. Put bluntly, IS always knew it would come up against the “far enemy” of the US and its allies. The question was not if but when, even with the cautious Obama in the White House.</p>
<h2>Vanguard</h2>
<p>What is not entirely clear is the extent to which IS wants the foil of large-scale intervention by the West, including in Syria. It certainly expects it at some stage; that will leave it well-placed to present itself as the vanguard of resistance against yet more Western encroachment on the Muslim world, after Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Mali and even Gaza. </p>
<p>While the great majority of Muslims do not accept this, it strikes a chord with some, especially the disaffected young – providing further potential recruits to the cause.</p>
<p>If the UK joins in the air strikes, or if Obama significantly intensifies them, they will find that IS will have planned accordingly. How they will react to any such engagement is very difficult to say. </p>
<p>But based on the group’s performance so far, we can expect their response to be surprising, and brutal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Rogers has received funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. He lectures regularly at the Royal College of Defence Studies.</span></em></p>Islamic State’s brutal killing of Steven Sotloff, coming on the heels of James Foley’s execution, is intended to shock and appal. It has done just that. But any response to the executions must recognise…Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies, University of BradfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/308972014-09-03T00:06:44Z2014-09-03T00:06:44ZThe internet can deliver better journalism, not just clickbait<p>In the digital age, one of the most complex challenges for media outlets is how to re-shape the editorial responsibilities of journalism itself. Are the hallmarks of good journalism – accuracy, independence and impartiality – still relevant or necessary in the YouTube age?</p>
<p>In a research paper published by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/publication/accuracy-independence-and-impartiality">Accuracy, Independence and Impartiality: How legacy media and digital natives approach standards in the digital age</a>, I argue the internet provides many new ways to improve the quality of journalism. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that the faster pace of today’s news cycle – where news often breaks first online – doesn’t have its downsides too.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57326/original/5nzqywx8-1409015181.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/501891876069208064/photo/1">@ABCNews24/Twitter</a></span>
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<p>We saw an example of that recently when the images and video of a man beheading American photo-journalist James Foley began circulating on the internet. Social media sites Twitter and YouTube announced they were <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/08/twitter-suspends-accounts-linking-to-james-foley-video.html">“actively suspending”</a> the accounts of people circulating the images. Yet a number of newspapers around the world – including the Murdoch-owned <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-york-post-front-page-photo-of-james-foley-causes-widespread-anger-20140820-106hcd.html">New York Post</a> and Australian tabloids Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Courier-Mail newspapers, along with the Fairfax-owned Age – <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/aug/21/news-corp-australia-defends-james-foley-beheading-images">all ran a gruesome image</a> from the video on their front pages, ignoring Foley’s family’s plea not to do so. </p>
<p>The Daily Telegraph’s editor <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/the-beheading-of-american-photojournalist-james-foley-a-despicable-act-of-pure-evil/story-fni0cx12-1227031353757?nk=5b76f9a88372bd60c841fe0e54019918">Paul Whittaker said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We do not believe it is the role of the media to self-censor. The image is confronting. But the wickedness of this extremist Islamic group will not be properly understood while media outlets engage in self-censorship. We do not shy away from our obligation to our readers to tell the truth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Would those editors have made the same decisions to run the images if they weren’t already online? </p>
<p>But for every example of ethically questionable journalism partly driven by the changing nature of viral news and audience behaviour, there are plenty more examples where the internet has improved the way journalists operate.</p>
<h2>Who decides what’s ethical journalism?</h2>
<p>Most newspapers developed a set of ethical guidelines or standards in the 19th century. Public service broadcasters such as the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation followed suit in the 20th century. The context in which those standards existed was very different to today.</p>
<p>Most cities had one newspaper, a single voice on which to rely for news. Today we not only have a greater array of news mastheads to choose from both within and beyond continental borders, we can also consume news on social media platforms, from citizen journalists who witness an event, and via endless apps and messaging services on our mobile devices. And we can engage with and contribute to the news in timely ways that weren’t possible when newspapers were printed only once a day.</p>
<p>All of this means that journalism’s core standards must evolve to meet the internet age. </p>
<p>While there are threats to ethical standards brought on by the sheer volume, virality and fierce competition for dwindling advertising dollars in news, the digital era has forced news organisations around the world to find new ways to uphold traditional editorial standards of accuracy, independence and impartiality. </p>
<h2>Transparency and hyperlinks</h2>
<p>Since 2010, US investigative website <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/about-our-pharma-data">ProPublica has been investigating</a> the financial links between doctors and drug companies. </p>
<p>It built a publicly searchable database so patients could check if their doctor was being paid by a pharmaceutical company. In doing so, ProPublica <a href="http://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/">linked to the company disclosures</a> of the 15 drug companies their database was drawn from. </p>
<p>The audience was able to access the source material in a way that was just not possible in pre-internet days.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57357/original/dngzqkms-1409024642.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">ProPublica provided readers with the source material for its investigation.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Greater context and faster corrections</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, sports and culture website Grantland issued a <a href="http://grantland.com/features/the-dr-v-story-a-letter-from-the-editor/">lengthy correction</a> after the publication of an in-depth feature about Dr V, the inventor of a golf putter. </p>
<p>The journalist worked for seven months on the story and during that time inadvertently outed Dr V as transgender to one of her investors. Dr V committed suicide a few weeks later. At that point Grantland had no plans to run the story due to a lack of news values.</p>
<p>But after Dr V’s suicide, the journalist re-wrote the piece to incorporate the entire story. After careful consideration, Grantland published the piece. </p>
<p>Then it became apparent the story still didn’t handle the transgender issue appropriately. Editor Bill Simmons issued a brave retraction, spelling out the reasons Grantland felt the piece failed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57402/original/54ywvwpp-1409054681.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grantland issues a correction to its feature article.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Further, Grantland commissioned a <a href="http://grantland.com/features/what-grantland-got-wrong/">guest editorial</a> from Christina Kahrl – a board director with GLAAD, which promotes the image of transgender people in the media. This detailed the problems the story had in dealing with transgender issues.</p>
<p>The story remains online, but starts with a paragraph that links to both Simmons’ correction and the editorial by Kahrl, so that readers have the full context if they still choose to read the feature. This example demonstrates how digital outlets can issue more comprehensive and transparent corrections than pre-internet media might have done.</p>
<h2>More voices breaking through</h2>
<p>Last century newspapers usually held a monopoly. The digital era gives audiences access to a greater number of voices from all sides of the spectrum. </p>
<p>As the internet grows, audiences have a wider array of global perspectives on a vast range of topics. Some, such as <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/">Upworthy</a> founder <a href="http://www.thefilterbubble.com/about-eli">Eli Pariser</a>, have warned of the “filter bubble” or “echo chamber” effect, where consumers only follow the views of those they agree with, not just through their own choices but also because online search engine algorithms learn to suggest material that fits their persuasion.</p>
<p>But the digital era has prompted some media organisations to serve audiences a wider diet of perspectives. The BBC, not content with just providing a duly impartial approach in its own news reports, is also linking to a variety of reports from other news organisations. Not only can readers find out what the BBC says about the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28918792">Syrian crisis</a>, but also what other news organisations are reporting. </p>
<p>In the past fortnight, Australia’s public broadcaster <a href="http://about.abc.net.au/press-releases/abc-launches-from-other-news-sites-feature/">the ABC has started</a> rolling out a similar “From other news sites” feature on its news stories, based on the BBC’s Newstracker service.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57356/original/p5377w4z-1409024514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The BBC links to a variety of news stories about Syria.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is clear that digital journalism can allow for greater commitment to editorial standards. From better linking to primary sources of information, to greater commitment to transparency, there has never been an age more able to incorporate open, high-quality journalism.</p>
<p>The real challenge is getting all media outlets to use these new tools to adhere to editorial strengths of verification, accuracy, independence and a plurality of perspectives.</p>
<p><em>* Kellie Riordan will discuss her research on <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/publication/accuracy-independence-and-impartiality">Accuracy, Independence and Impartiality</a> in the media on ABC Radio’s Conversations with Richard Fidler today (Wednesday September 3) from 11am AEST. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/sites/conversations/">Click here to listen live or download the podcast</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kellie Riordan received the 2014 Donald McDonald fellowship from the ABC to attend the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.</span></em></p>In the digital age, one of the most complex challenges for media outlets is how to re-shape the editorial responsibilities of journalism itself. Are the hallmarks of good journalism – accuracy, independence…Kellie Riordan, Content Director & Editorial Trainer, ABC Radio; 2014 fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/307482014-08-22T13:33:18Z2014-08-22T13:33:18ZInternational law is inadequate when it comes to protecting journalists from savagery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57086/original/r2rdx4m6-1408632365.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">James Foley in Libya, 2011.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.freejamesfoley.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/IMG_91001.jpg">Jonathan Pedneault/Find James Foley</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-071-murdered-since-1992-more-must-be-done-to-protect-journalists-like-james-foley-30802">vicious execution of US journalist James Foley</a> by militants of the Islamic State deepens the concern that international law and diplomacy may be ill-equipped to address crimes against media workers reporting from conflict zones. </p>
<p>The video depicting the decapitation and cautioning Barack Obama to end military operations in Iraq displays a modus operandi typical of terrorist negotiation strategy. It evokes the <a href="http://cpj.org/killed/2004/enzo-baldoni.php">murder of freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni</a> in 2004 by the Islamic Army in Iraq, after the fundamentalist group attempted to use the hostage as a leverage tool for an ultimatum requesting the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq.</p>
<p>It further echoes the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1014311357552611480">murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl</a>, abducted in Pakistan in 2002, whose captors posted the video of the beheading as a warning after unsuccessfully demanding the release of Guantanamo Bay Muslim prisoners. </p>
<p>Unlawful killings have also been used as a tactic to inhibit the dissemination of information and critical views, as in the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4740759.stm">kidnapping and shooting of US freelance journalist Steven Vincent</a> by Islamic extremists in Iraq in 2005. </p>
<p>High-profile cases are only the tip of the iceberg. <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/freedom-of-expression/safety-of-journalists/">UNESCO reports</a> reveal an alarming 593 journalist killings between 2006-2013, with the highest figures in 2012 (123) and 2013 (91). According to the International Federation of Journalists, <a href="http://ifj-safety.org/en">67 journalists and media workers have been killed so far in 2014</a>, with Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria holding the worst records. </p>
<h2>Culture of impunity</h2>
<p>These statistics suggest that many states are unwilling or unable to deter crimes against journalists by ensuring that the perpetrators are held to account. The culture of impunity not only infringes the victims’ right to life, personal security and free speech, but also has a chilling effect on the media in general, as well as affecting the public’s right to information. </p>
<p>As UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue stated in his <a href="http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G09/130/32/PDF/G0913032.pdf?OpenElement">2009 report to the Human Rights Council</a>: “Limiting impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against media professionals will function as an important deterrent against the repetition of these crimes.”</p>
<p>Countering impunity remains, however, a real problem in countries where political instability and military turmoil render state institutions ineffective. This has led to the rise of a new type of threat facing foreign correspondents: deliberate targeting by private actors. </p>
<p>Unlike states, extremist groups tend to be beyond the reach of both diplomacy and the law. Peer pressure within the international community relies on concerns such as reputational damage, continued support of economic or strategic allies and domestic public opinion. Groups that are driven by a nihilist ideology who resort to terrorist methods do not respond to such considerations.</p>
<p>This is not to say that international law places no obligations on non-state parties. Under international humanitarian law, <a href="http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/vwTreaties1949.xsp">which protects individuals who take no active part in the hostilities</a>, obligations applying to warring countries in international conflicts also bind non-state parties to internal hostilities. </p>
<p>In particular, <a href="http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/d67c3971bcff1c10c125641e0052b545">Article 13 of Additional Protocol II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions</a> dictates that civilians cannot be the object of attack or acts or threats of violence. Non-international conflicts are also covered by common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions, establishing that civilians cannot be subjected to cruel treatment or outrages upon personal dignity or taken hostages. </p>
<h2>Journalists are civilians</h2>
<p>Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict are expressly classified as “civilians” in <a href="http://www.icrc.org/ihl/WebART/470-750102?OpenDocument">Article 79 of the 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions</a>. This means they are entitled to the protection of <a href="http://www.icrc.org/ihl/4e473c7bc8854f2ec12563f60039c738/8a9e7e14c63c7f30c12563cd0051dc5c?OpenDocument">Article 48</a>, which requires warring parties to distinguish between civilian and military objectives. </p>
<p>More recently, <a href="http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sc8929.doc.htm">UN Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006)</a> reiterated the obligation for all parties involved in conflicts to treat journalists as civilians and respect their rights and professional independence. So media workers in conflict zones cannot be legitimate targets under any circumstance. </p>
<p>But the reality does not match the expectations under the law. To address this crisis, in 2012 <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/freedom-of-expression/safety-of-journalists/un-plan-of-action/">UNESCO developed a Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity</a>, which is at present being implemented in five pilot countries, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan, South Sudan, and Tunisia. </p>
<p>The plan involves helping states to develop legislation guaranteeing freedom of expression – including effective investigation and prosecution of crimes against journalists; raising awareness amongst media owners and policy-makers on existing international instruments for the protection of journalists; disseminating best practices on the safety of journalists.</p>
<p>Further international avenues for increasing the safety of journalists may include the adoption of a convention for the protection of journalists in conflict zones in recognition of their being a category at risk – or making the killing of journalists a war crime. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, enhancing the international legal framework may prove valuable in dealing with rational state players. Similarly, international co-operation focusing on capacity-building presupposes the effective control of the legitimate authorities of States receiving assistance over their own territory.</p>
<p>The efforts of the international community to tackle threats to journalists may be insufficient if confined to legal measures and assistance in the administration of justice. In the presence of anarchic private groups such as Islamic State, rethinking international law-enforcement options through the Security Council might be timely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carmen Draghici does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The vicious execution of US journalist James Foley by militants of the Islamic State deepens the concern that international law and diplomacy may be ill-equipped to address crimes against media workers…Carmen Draghici, Senior Lecturer, City Law School, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/308022014-08-21T13:36:23Z2014-08-21T13:36:23Z1,071 murdered since 1992: more must be done to protect journalists like James Foley<p>The appalling death of journalist James Foley has highlighted once again the inherent dangers facing reporters covering conflicts around the world. </p>
<p>Foley, who worked for both US news site <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/">Global Post</a> and the French news agency AFP, had previously been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/james-foley-describes-his-capture-in-libya-20140820-1068i1.html">captured and detained for more than 40 days in 2011</a> whilst covering the Libyan conflict. He was released on that occasion, but went missing again in Syria in 2012. </p>
<p>According to figures from the International Federation of Journalists, the <a href="http://ifj-safety.org/en">total of journalist and media staff killed so far in 2014 is 67</a>. Since 1992 according to the <a href="http://www.cpj.org/killed/">Committee to Protect Journalists</a>, 1,071 have been killed. </p>
<p>These deaths do not just occur under hostile regimes in war zones. The majority of journalists killed are local staff targeted because of their reporting of organised crime drugs and arms deals. The casualties are not confined to one or two areas of the world but extend to more than countries. Most of their murderers go free and unpunished.</p>
<h2>Adrenaline but also commitment</h2>
<p>Undoubtedly there is an excitement and glamour associated with the work of the front line correspondents. Wars can make great stories. For many journalists there is an element of addictiveness to the lifestyle, one that can bring intensification of emotion that brings as many low points as high ones. </p>
<p>But alongside the stress on excitement many journalists who cover conflicts refer to the social value of their work, to truth seeking, to bearing witness, and to being present at moments, or indeed the front row of history. </p>
<p>While the initial motivation maybe one of adventure, a way of keeping away from routine, this almost invariably changes to become a mission. This personal commitment is enhanced when journalists see themselves as witnesses to atrocities and injustices. The journalist/witness has to open the public’s eyes to the world’s brutalities. </p>
<p>But the desire to be present at historic moments necessarily means that there is an element of risk inherent in the occupation whether it is in gathering the story, or editing the material, or transmitting it back to their news organisation. </p>
<p>The desire to document has meant for example, that photojournalists, such as Foley, see their role not only to bring attention to the world of the human cost of conflict but also that reporting can have another role as the creation of evidence, work that would hold people accountable, and not allow the perpetrators or politicians to deny or say that they did not know this was happening. </p>
<p>Journalists covering conflict face the most severe conditions and demands. The affect on their physical and psychological welfare can be devastating.</p>
<h2>Safety measures</h2>
<p>The need for safety measures has become a major issue in war reporting and the pressure on media organisations to create a safety framework that will safeguard the lives of their employees has intensified. Some media companies do provide risk awareness training, social protection in the form of life insurance, free medical treatment and protection for freelance or part–time employees but many do not. </p>
<p>Journalists are increasingly being targeted by armies, terrorist and assassins, (in most cases) to prevent independent reporting and witnessing of events. The growth of social media has enabled protagonists in conflicts to manage their own propaganda without the need of the reporter to tell their story. The only value of a journalist in these situations is either as a bargaining tool or commodity for gaining ransom money or to communicate terror.</p>
<p>As AFP president, Emmanuel Hoog, poignantly remarked on James Foley: “Once again our profession has been shaken by a shameful and unacceptable act. Journalism was James Foley’s reason to live and it should never have been his reason to die.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Howard Tumber receives funding from ESRC.</span></em></p>The appalling death of journalist James Foley has highlighted once again the inherent dangers facing reporters covering conflicts around the world. Foley, who worked for both US news site Global Post and…Howard Tumber, Professor of Journalism and Communication, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/307632014-08-21T03:57:03Z2014-08-21T03:57:03ZJames Foley, Islamic State and the media’s treatment of terrorism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57004/original/vzmfnywn-1408589309.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A screengrab from Islamic State's execution video of American journalist James Foley.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Liveleak</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The US government has confirmed the veracity of a video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley by Islamic State (IS) militants. US president Barack Obama condemned the act overnight, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/obama-islamic-state-has-no-ideology-of-any-value-to-human-beings-20140821-106i2i.html#ixzz3AzSQP9BA">saying</a> that IS:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… has no ideology of any value to human beings. Their ideology is bankrupt.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, a storm has erupted after some newspapers, including the New York Post and Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, used graphic images of Foley about to be executed on their respective front pages.</p>
<p>The Conversation spoke with Monash University terrorism expert Greg Barton to make sense of the act and the responses to it.</p>
<hr>
<h2>What reaction was IS aiming to provoke by releasing this video? What is their strategy?</h2>
<p>The first thing to recognise is that IS is media-savvy and that includes social media, and it appears that this awful video – which was technically quite well put together – was very deliberately staged and released. There is a sense with all of the young men fighting with IS of a “Lord of the Flies” mentality on the ground: that people are operating in a zone where they are licensed to kill and commit acts of barbarism that they wouldn’t dream of at home.</p>
<p>But I don’t think what we’re seeing with this video is some random violence – it is a very deliberate bit of messaging. I think the messaging is designed to do two things. One is to provoke an angry response from publics in western democracies: it’s in English, it’s addressed to president Obama, it’s targeting western democracies. </p>
<p>I think there’s the hope that it might put pressure on leaders like Obama and British prime minister David Cameron to increase their military engagement in Iraq and Syria, and that IS feels that that would help them make their case to the people currently supporting the Sunni leaders in Iraq and the Sunni minorities in Syria that the west is against them and they should join with IS.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56977/original/mvc5gb8k-1408584912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Murdered American journalist James Foley.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Nicole Tung</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I think there’s also a calculation that by setting off a firestorm in western media and social media circles, it will feed into a climate of anxiety about Islam and Muslims in a way that makes young Muslim men seeing this happen be even more susceptible to the message that the west is against Islam; there’s a war against Islam and Muslims – and that really there is no choice but to join with those fighting on the other side, with Islamic State.</p>
<h2>Is this an example of terrorism as a magnification of limited power?</h2>
<p>It’s generally the case with terrorist groups that when they are doing deliberate messaging, it’s done to provoke, because their power ultimately depends on the response they can provoke. Their immediate power is limited; they increase their power with provocation and a response.</p>
<p>With IS at the moment holding so much territory, they actually have real military power on the ground. But even so, they are a movement very much driven by – or supported by – foreign fighters, and therefore very much driven by the need to recruit young men around the world to their cause. </p>
<p>That old mechanism of provoking an angry response and then benefiting from that response still applies. We saw this most dramatically with 9/11. It was intended to provoke a response that would send troops into Afghanistan and as a “bonus” that was probably not expected, getting the war in Iraq, which has led to the current situation we face today with Islamic State. I think we’re still seeing primarily a dynamic of provocation so that the group benefits from the response beyond what they can do directly themselves.</p>
<h2>How should social and news media treat acts like these? Should they be more wary?</h2>
<p>I think they need to be very wary, given that we are dealing with a group that is trying to provoke an angry response. The last thing we want to do is give them what they want. We have to be very cautious about feeding irrational fears of Islam and Muslims in a way that reifies the message that this group is trying to propagate.</p>
<p>We have seen some quite wise responses, quite spontaneously, to the Foley video. We seen the “don’t re-send this video” movement, a Twitter-led movement, to encourage people to not forward the images on. We’ve see the understandable anger at newspapers perhaps going too far with still images not necessary for the purposes of communication. I think it’s appropriate that the public is responding and saying that’s not right.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57015/original/fstbjphb-1408592711.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Daily Telegraph front page, August 21.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daily Telegraph</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We’ve seen a very cautious response and measured responses from Obama and Cameron, and I think it shows we have learnt a few things about the danger of being provoked by terrorist groups.</p>
<p>However, our weakness is that we haven’t been active in the social media space with positive messaging. So for a young person looking at social media trying to figure what’s what, they hear very strident black-and-white voices, very charismatic messaging from groups aligned with IS. But they don’t hear much in response explaining why perhaps they should be more sceptical about the plans made by IS and more questioning of their brutality.</p>
<p>I think we now recognise we have to pay attention to social media. Up until recently, state and federal police weren’t investing in social media in a big way, certainly on this front. We need to pay attention to it both in terms of intelligence but also in actively sending a counter narrative. That will require working with younger people with some religious and community authority – not simply with the imams and the sheikhs that are limited in their ability to penetrate through to the generation that is being targeted by IS.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30763/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Barton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US government has confirmed the veracity of a video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley by Islamic State (IS) militants. US president Barack Obama condemned the act overnight…Greg Barton, Herb Feith Research Professor for the Study of Indonesia, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/307352014-08-20T14:26:00Z2014-08-20T14:26:00ZJames Foley murder: inside the mind of Britain’s jihadis<p>The chilling video showing the apparent murder of the journalist James Foley by the Islamic State has reinforced the terrible risks involved in the brave and important role that journalists play in reporting from overseas conflicts. In a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28862261">2012 interview</a> with the BBC, Foley said: “I’m drawn to the drama of the conflict and trying to expose untold stories.” However, as we know from recent accounts, many other foreigners are also drawn to the conflict in Iraq and Syria and indeed it appears that Foley’s murderer <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28864924">was British</a>.</p>
<p>It is easier for us to understand how a foreigner might go to such places to report on the conflicts taking place and to see the need for it than it is to understand why someone might choose to risk their life fighting for people they have never met in a country that isn’t theirs. And yet there are believed to be around <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27968963">500 British fighters</a> in Syria and Iraq as part of approximately 10,000 foreigners fighting alongside local insurgents.</p>
<p>Of course, there is a long history of people heading off to fight in foreign countries and recent research by <a href="http://www.radicalisationresearch.org/research/foreign-fighters/">David Malet</a>, covering cases such as the Texan Revolution, the Spanish Civil War and more recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria has shown that, on balance, foreign fighters are more likely to be involved in high-risk conflicts. In 2007, records of nearly 700 foreign fighters <a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/al-qaidas-foreign-fighters-in-iraq-a-first-look-at-the-sinjar-records">were found</a> in Iraq, which had been compiled by groups affiliated to al-Qaeda. These detailed forms showed that 56% of these fighters wanted to be suicide bombers (this was even higher for some nationalities – 85% of Libyans preferred martyrdom).</p>
<p>Other <a href="http://www.radicalisationresearch.org/research/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-the-strategy-and-ideology-of-martyrdom/">research</a> of more than 500 suicide bombings in Iraq between 2003 and 2006 suggested that many, if not most, of the bombings were carried out by people from outside the Arabian peninsula. This research also pointed out that many of these recruits came from countries which didn’t have national military service, so suicide bombing was a way of using to maximum effect these volunteers who lacked the fighting skills to be useful in conventional attacks.</p>
<p>In all the research the data suggests that the majority of recruits are young, unmarried men. As I have written <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-could-really-brainwash-young-muslims-isis-would-have-a-lot-more-british-recruits-28423">before</a>, to suggest that they were brainwashed into fighting abroad misses the point – they chose to be there. Understanding how they were recruited is the important point to focus on.</p>
<h2>Threatened and threatening</h2>
<p>My own research looks at how non-negotiable beliefs play a role in motivating and justifying violent behaviour. One aspect of this is the creation of a wider communal identity and the sense of a threat to it. Research by Malet and <a href="http://www.radicalisationresearch.org/byline/thomas-hegghammer/">Thomas Hegghammer</a> has shown how recruiters use emotive imagery and arguments (including on social media) to demonstrate how the wider transnational community is under imminent threat. </p>
<p>Broadening specific conflicts into a more inclusive abstract threat is one way of doing this – so Serbs versus Bosnians becomes Christians versus Muslims, and Assad versus protesters becomes Western puppet regimes or false Muslims versus true (in this case Sunni) Muslims. Of course, this isn’t a process unique to Islam – in the past Communism was another example of a notable “threatened” transnational ideology which successfully recruited foreign fighters to several conflicts. Indeed, trans-nationalising conflicts has been shown to be a useful tool in many conflicts where one side lacks other means to increase their resources (as is common in small insurgencies against national armies).</p>
<p>This process of highlighting the threat to the community and generating a sense of fear is especially effective in people who have a stronger identity to that community than they do to their state identity. So Malet argues that people who might be marginalised within their home countries might be more likely to leave those countries as the ties of state identity are weaker than the sense of duty to their transnational community. The sense of fear and the sense that they are fighting for a losing cause may be one reason why they are more likely to engage in high-risk action than the local insurgents, that and the fact that they have less family and other assets in the area that need protecting.</p>
<p>Quite aside from the terrible carnage that these fighters are causing abroad, as brought home to us in the disturbing video of James Foley’s awful murder, is the threat of what these foreign fighters might do when they return home.</p>
<h2>The veteran effect</h2>
<p>Hegghammer’s <a href="http://www.radicalisationresearch.org/research/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go-explaining-variation-in-western-jihadists-choice-between-domestic-and-foreign-fighting/">research</a> shows that only one in nine foreign fighters will be involved in violent plots when they return to their home countries. However, Hegghammer’s data suggests that plots involving veterans of overseas conflicts are more likely to come to fruition by a factor of 1.5 and there are double the chances of fatalities if a veteran is involved. </p>
<p>As in most research on terrorism, the data comes from small groups of people (thankfully there aren’t many foreign fighters or terrorists) so findings must be given the appropriate caveats. But as the murder of James Foley appears to have shown, foreign fighters are involved at the heart of the violence abroad – and understanding how they got there and what they might do on their return is an important task to which all carefully researched findings can contribute. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Francis receives funding from the RCUK Global Uncertainties programme. He edits RadicalisationResearch.org which highlights academic research into radicalisation, extremism and related issues.</span></em></p>The chilling video showing the apparent murder of the journalist James Foley by the Islamic State has reinforced the terrible risks involved in the brave and important role that journalists play in reporting…Matthew Francis, Senior Research Associate, Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.