ISIS and the PR War

So, this is obviously a sensitive subject given recent events in Paris. The ongoing issue with ISIS and their horrible acts of terror are bad enough to set anger anyone and get them fired up. However, I believe it is important to know thy enemy, as the saying goes. This article by Cracked gives a good insight into what ISIS believes and promotes. It's a brief overview of ISIS' 60-80 page periodical magazine Dabiq.

The article, in its own crude way, shows readers that ISIS is getting exactly what it wants: attention. The world isn't only in a war against terrorism regarding ISIS, they are in a PR way with ISIS. Al Qaeda was pretty good at PR, but they can't hold a candle to ISIS. While their ideals are twisted and disgusting, their use of PR and propaganda is really next-level stuff.

ISIS uses social media better than most Fortune 500 companies. They know graphics; they know multimedia; they understand about timeliness; they understand the media. With these talents, they have been able to recruit more than 25,000 foreign fighters to their cause.

ISIS doesn't care about positive image. In fact, they crave the exact opposite. They celebrate death and destruction. The don't follow the doctrine or PR principles we as communicators would use to guide us. They want pure and simple effect ... and their getting it. So, what does America do about it?

The American government follows certain rules regarding information operations. It is held accountable for its actions. If it's caught trying to mislead the American people, or god forbid anything that can be construde as propaganda, somebody is going to answer for it.

How do we fix it? Do we disregard our morale and ethical beliefs? Do we rewrite the rules to create a more level playing field? I don't personally know the answer at this point, but it's definitely time people start thinking about how to do it soon.