-
Popular Online Figures Who Inspire The Syrian Fighters
Post by Joseph A. Carter, Shiraz Maher and Peter R. Neumann All comments welcome… Over a twelve month period from early 2013 to early 2014 a team of researchers at ICSR created a database of social media profiles of 190 Western and European foreign fighters. More than two thirds of these fighters were affiliated with Jabhat al-Nusrah or the Islamic State (IS) – two groups that have, at one point or another, maintained formal relationships with al-Qaeda. The social media activity of these users provided a unique and unfiltered window into the minds of Western and European foreign fighters in Syria, which provided the information for the ICSR’s very well…
-
Arrested War: After Diffused War
Ben O’Loughlin and Andrew Hoskins introduce the concept of ‘Arrested War’ to describe how mainstream media is re-appropriating the images and stories that describe contemporary conflicts. All comments welcome…. Arrested War: After Diffused War In the past two decades we have passed through three phases of media ecology, and each has shaped a different way media have entered into the operations and understandings of war and conflict. The 1990s saw the final stage of broadcast era war. National and satellite television and the press had a lock on what mass audiences witnessed, and governments could exercise relative control of journalists’ access and reporting. By the turn of the millennium, mass internet…
-
Picturing the Social: Militarism & Clean War
WAM members may be interested in the following talks by Adi Kuntsman and Rhys Crilley from the Picturing the Social Conference (7th Nov 2014), now available on Soundcloud (other presentations also available). Abstracts for Kuntsman and Crilley below: Selfie Militarism (link) Dr Adi Kuntsman Lecturer in Digital Media, Manchester Metropolitan University The talk, which is part of my forthcoming co-authored book, Digital Militarism (with Rebecca L. Stein, Stanford UP, 2015), will focus on the evolution of Israeli digital militarism, and in particular, on the emergence of what we coin “selfie militarism” – mobile self-portraiture of by IDF soldiers on and off duty. Soldier selfies, now circulated routinely via Facebook, Instagram and other…
-
MWC Editor’s Collections: Media, Israel and Conflict
MWC Journal is pleased to present featured Editor’s Choice articles, specially selected to highlight the journal’s most noteworthy manuscripts. Media, Israel and Conflict In light of the evolving situation in Gaza and intense debates surrounding its media coverage, Media, War and Conflict present a virtual special issue of research previously published in the journal that bears upon events in 2014. These articles are a valuable resource for scholars, practitioners and citizens asking whether we have been here before and how media could play a more productive role in crises and conflicts. Articles Jad Melki The interplay of politics, economics and culture in news framing of Middle East wars Media, War…
-
WW1 Photographs in Colour
2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of World War 1. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of war, The Open University has enlisted the help of a photograph restoration expert, to ‘colourise’ some of the unique and interesting photos that were taken during the time. Although the original images were only available in black and white, colour has been added retrospectively to help bring them to life. Here are some of the results (click here to view more on the Open University website) 1. A trench on the Albanian front in 1918. A soldier receives a hair cut from an Alpine barber. Original below 2. A soldier and horse…
