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Related to this, I've been considering how we can accurately report on incidences such as arsons or shootings without giving them a narratively appealing contex
by failrate 9y ago
Related to this, I've been considering how we can accurately report on incidences such as arsons or shootings without giving them a narratively appealing context.
My naive approach was to replace "terrorist" with "some asshole", so that the news report "Terrorists detonated a bomb" would become "some assholes detonated a bomb". This is a joke example of a real concept. I think that our news sources have tried to do something similar by referring to ISIS as "Daesh", but the significance was lost on non-Arabic-speakers, and its usage never caught on.
- Dangeranger 9y agoJohn Oliver used this strategy effectively in his HBO coverage of the 2015 Paris Bataclan attack by calling the attackers "Unconscionable, flaming assholes, possibly working with other fucking assholes". Donald Trump has recently begun calling terrorists "Losers". George W. Bush called Al Qaeda members "thugs and killers". You are also correct that Daesh is preferred in Arabic media over the term ISIS, and although the former is really an acronym, it is close to to the Arabic words 'Daes', 'one who crushes something underfoot' and 'Dahes', translated as 'one who sows discord'. Members of the group also really hate the term being used to describe them, which helped spur it's usage. It's a strategy that's been used for some time and has proven effective in some cases in discouraging copycat behaviors.