The rise of Al Qaeda, religious militancy and terrorism Essay

The rise of Al Qaeda, religious militancy and terrorism - Essay Example According to Marshall McLuhan, one of the pillars of mass media theory, â€Å"without communication, terrorism would not exist.† Certainly, terrorism existed well before mass media; but the latter definitely gave the former a great advantage. Before, terrorism is limited to the area that goons, thugs or soldiers can reach. Today, one can just create a newsworthy event and the scope of exposure is limitless. This was what bin Laden and al-Qaeda exploited. He saw that mass media can be used â€Å"to get attention, to gain recognition, and even to obtain a certain degree of respect and legitimacy†. It can be said that al-Qaeda’s rise to power were determined by how bin Laden used the media to get his message across to the world. He knew that his organization needed an international audience to gain legitimacy; because without it, he would not be able to get funding and recruitment would be more difficult to accomplish. With malicious precision in manipulating the me dia, bin Laden was able to propel al-Qaeda as an organization that the world needs to take seriously. Hoffman states that terrorists, as exemplified by bin Laden, aims to dominate and control by sending a message of fear—and there is no better way to instill fear to the masses than through the media. Bin Laden recognized that when the masses are afraid for their lives, it propagates uncertainty and chaos, not only to a large population, but more importantly, to the nations’ democratic leaders.... 5). Hoffman (as cited in Fiore, 2011, p. 27) states that terrorists, as exemplified by bin Laden, aims to dominate and control by sending a message of fear—and there is no better way to instill fear to the masses than through the media. But why instill fear? Bin Laden recognized that when the masses are afraid for their lives, it propagates uncertainty and chaos, not only to a large population, but more importantly, to the nations’ democratic leaders (p. 27; Soriano, 2008, p. 2). â€Å"This instability can prompt people, and even governments, to think and react differently than they would have otherwise,† making them lean towards making decisions that would favor al-Qaeda (p. 27). Aside from exploiting this strategy, al-Qaeda also became infamous for making good on their threats and doing it in a visual manner that would gain the most attention and implant the most fear and hatred. The organization’s attacks were powerful in that it was grand yet personal, vast yet meaningful. This can perfectly be seen in the 9/11 attacks, in which the entire world was treated to a visual overload of exploding buildings—the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, no less—planes crashing, and hundreds of people dying or jumping to their deaths. Every channel for the next few days—and even years—broadcasted the attacks. The attacks were large-scale, in a country considered to be a world power, against a building that is a symbol of international collaboration, and they came at a time the world least expected them. The attention al-Qaeda got was monumental. If people were not aware of the existence of al-Qaeda, they sure were made aware on the morning of September 11, 2001. And the message was clear and powerful.

Comparing any variable, between any two cultures (either ones weve Research Paper

Comparing any variable, between any two cultures (either ones weve discussed in class, or preferably other cultures not dealt with in class - Research Paper Example Since the symbol has to be understood by the public in order to carry meaning but is still used to reinforce or question understandings, there is an interactive cause and effect relationship involved in each symbol. Using semiotic analysis on a single cultural symbol, such as the apple, can reveal how different worldviews can be shaped in different cultures. Semiotics can be defined as an examination of symbols to discover its meaning at various levels. â€Å"Semiology therefore aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification† (Barthes, 1964). The concept of semiotics considers how symbols combine to target a specific group and to convey meaning to them. Analysis breaks images down into signifiers, signified and sign. David Chandler (2006) defines the signifier as â€Å"the form which the sign takes† and the signified as â€Å"the concept it represents.† The ‘sign’ is the meaning that emerges. This meaning provides clues, in the form of denotation and connotation, as to the culture’s dominant worldview. It has been determined that for every symbol, there is some further meaning and often the possibility for multiple interpretations. Denotation and connotation communicate about the ideological myth behind the message. These ideas are best explored by analyzing a symbol such as the apple. Within a Christian-dominated culture, including the modern-day Greek culture, the symbol of the apple has an instant connotation of temptation, evil and destruction. These ideas are conveyed early through stories such as popular children’s shows. As is discussed by Trish Carden (2005), Disney’s production of