Oct 22, 2014

When Abu Bakr al-Baghadi, the Islamic State’s (IS) leader and self-styled caliph, appeared July 4 for the first time in Mosul, a symbolic venue was chosen by those who manage the media strategy of the world's most wanted terrorist group. Baghdadi chose the Great Mosque of al-Nouri, a Muslim prayer site built in 1172 by Noureddine Zangi, who's known to have paved the way for a strong Islamic state between Syria and Iraq and later expanded to Egypt and knocked down the Fatimid Dynasty. Zangi fought several battles against the Crusaders, vowing to liberate Jerusalem from their occupation. IS strategists played on this to try impose a comparison in the minds of those who are familiar with the mosque's history, to indicate what kind of state they are looking to build — one that can conquer the Shiite state Iran and one that is capable of fighting the West.

IS wanted to portray its caliph — who succeeds the Prophet Muhammad and represents God on earth — during the Friday sermon in July in the best way possible. From Baghdadi's outfit to the cameras used to broadcast the sermon, everything was planned to convey a message. Five high-definition cameras were placed inside and outside the mosque, all wired to a device operated by what appeared to be a professional technician, or maybe director, who created a professional 21-minute TV broadcast. This was IS’ image of statehood.

“The Islamic State believes that media warfare is equal in importance to military warfare,” Marwan Shehade, a Jordanian expert on Islamic movements, told Al-Monitor. “The media is essential when it comes to any of IS' activities; besides, they have been working on boosting their talents, especially with all the financial and human resources they acquired from around the Arab and Muslim world,” he said. According to Shehade, IS had the chance to equip itself with cutting-edge technology. “Analyzing the latest videos broadcast by the group shows that they have cutting-edge tools and professional operators. I have to say that they are generous when it comes to their media machine, and they pay good money to professionals.”

IS has several media divisions that produce and disseminate online media materials. Al-Furqan and Al-Itisam are responsible for the visual material: the first concentrates on the military warfare and showing the strength of the state, while the second is dedicated to social and religious activities and sermons.

“IS is an ideological group; therefore, they don’t trust the mainstream media to convey their messages,” Omar Kayed, a Palestinian journalist and academic who has been following IS from its beginning, told Al-Monitor. “The group depends mainly on its media divisions to spread its ideas and impose difficult conditions on journalists who desire to work in areas under its control. They have to vow allegiance to the group, [which has] full control over their materials and any violation of the rules might pose a threat to the journalists’ lives.”