Material Presence, Online Attention, and Proto-State Newsworthiness

Abstract

Chapter 5 identifies the material factors that al-Qaeda and ISIS draw upon to attract attention to their proto-states by online users and traditional media outlets. It begins by recognizing the highly crowded, competitive nature of the online environment and the fact that both proto-states have had millions of news items written about them and millions of online views of their content. It then establishes a clear association between material conditions linked to the proto-states’ defining elements and spikes in attention by online users and international news outlets. Using Google Trend Score and Nexis-Uni data, the chapter demonstrates how material elements related to the definitional components of ideology, aggression, governance, population control, territorial control, and alliances are all associated with the attention of online users and traditional media sources.