New Technology leads to New Propaganda

With the outlet of new television stations springing up all over the globe it is much easier to spread a single message to thousands of viewers. Al Jazerra "Claims a global audience of 35 Million Arabic-speaking viewers, may not officially be the Osama bin Laden Channel -- but he is clearly the star" (Ajami 1). This television station which means "the Peninsula" has spread propaganda all throughout the land. Anti-Americanism along with it has become a dangerous weapon to dismantle the coalition objective and influences young Arabic citizens to rise up against the western way of life. These messages of propaganda can and are being used to influence Afghanis as well as other radical middle eastern people to join against the crusade known as Jihad. Their messages of anti-Americanism is a powerful recruiting tool and this network has no doubt been an outlet for many radicals to shift or sway public opinion in their own direction.

This is not an old trick, and this is being done in our country as well. Many would say fox news is geared toward Republican viewers more so than democratic because of Rupert Murdoch's influence he too can play the part in shifting public opinion geared towards American viewers as we see below he is even quoted as saying that he "tried" to shift public opinion about the war


"Al Jazeera's reporters are similarly adept at riling up the viewer. A fiercely opinionated group, most are either pan-Arabists -- nationalists of a leftist bent committed to the idea of a single nation across the many frontiers of the Arab world." This is not so much a war but a war on ideas as Ajami puts it shifting public opinion takes skill and most importantly evidence. Evidence that people can hear and see for themselves. It is a lot different when someone receives news through another person, as opposed to actually seeing pictures and hearing the horrible sounds that war brings to any nation.