The ISIS Visual Discourse at its Height

We can say that the peak of IS' media activities was between 2014 and 2015, when it broke away from al-Qaeda, followed by an improvement in its military and financial status until it reached its peak with the invasion of Mosul and the declaration of the caliphate in 2014 (ISIS's Media Network in the Era after the Fall of the Islamic State. 2018). Since that time Islamic State has amazed the whole world with its highly sophisticated and, at times, shocking media operations (Veilleux-Lepage, Y. 2016).

At its height, IS established a powerful "Central Media Department" that was of high quality, effective and centralized (ISIS's Media Network in the Era after the Fall of the Islamic State. 2018). Through it IS's media strategy went from local to global discourse to reach target audiences around the world, this is confirmed by producing its discourse in many languages like English, Arabic, Russian, Urdu, Turkish and even Hebrew (Williams, L. 2016). Moreover, in order to assert its authority and to promote fear, both among Muslims and non-Muslims, IS has published a dramatic spectacle in the videos of beheadings, torture and mass murders (Perry, S. P., & Long, J. M. 2016).

It can be said, that the power of IS is primarily in using high technology to deliver the message, as in the age of the picture; IS uses images to amplify its force and to send the message in a shocking way. Friis (2017) inferred that the technical skills of an Islamic state are not only reflected in the way in which it disseminates its material but also in how to organize its discourse in an effective visual way.

Nevertheless, the power strategy of the ISIS does not limit, it focuses on the social network, audio broadcasts and electronic games which shocking the mind, logic, and inhumanity, carries through them many messages and objectives. Over time, ISIS produced a large number of very high-quality videos that mimic Hollywood-style with exciting novels to capture the viewer's attention (Williams, L. 2016).

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