TV stars and terrorists may appear to have little in common. But after watching YouTube videos by members of a violent terrorist organization, Yotam Ophir realized the two groups deploy similar tactics to connect with remote audiences. The terrorists dressed casually, stared straight at the camera when talking and narrated their pasts in gripping, plot-driven fashion, just like actors.
When Ophir presented that theory in class as a junior at the University of Haifa in Israel, his teacher, communications researcher Gabriel Weimann, was so impressed that he encouraged Ophir to publish on the idea. That resulted in Ophir’s first academic paper, published in March 2012 in Perspectives on Terrorism.
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