.@Farah_Pandith, who wrote a book about radicalization, has something to say about the podcast Caliphate today. This isn't just about fact-checking. Every female counterterrorism expert saw what was happening: the selling of a sexy (pun intended) story to the public. 1/
https://twitter.com/Farah_Pandith/status/1357809607285108737
From the PR campaign, to the haunting fear that the reporter has about being physically in danger, to the glamorization of violence, and the caricature of female ISIS members, the whole thing was, in Farah's words, made "glam." 2/
And it worked. Caliphate was to counterterrorism as Serial was to criminal justice issues by bringing a major issue to the forefront through audio storytelling of the life of one man through a believing woman. I am well aware of the irony is this analogy. 3/
Taught to the military, intelligence officials and in university classes, Caliphate was huge. It was too good to be true: the dashing reporter, the lost ISIS member, the hunt for the truth. And it was in fact not true. So, this isn't just a media story; it impacted much more. 4/
The story of Caliphate isn't only about how the "facts" were unearthed, but also how the story was told. That isn't on a single reporter or producer. We all loved the story. It was glam. 5/5
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
