Islamic State planning 24-hr television channel: Reports

LOS ANGELES — According to reports in both Israeli and international media this week, the Islamic State has a 24-hour television channel in the works.

The station, which if launched will take ISIS’ well-polished propaganda machine to an entirely new level, will feature round-the-clock news and commentary that supports its jihadist ideology.

The terror organization has waged a shockingly bloody campaign in recent months to seize large swaths of Iraq and Syria, and it has utilised both Twitter and YouTube, as well as Iraqi radio bandwidth, to spread its message and galvanize support among terrorist sympathizers. It has its own English-language magazine, Daqib, as well as a video series, on both YouTube and other content-sharing sites, dubbed “The Flames of War”.

Earlier this week, ISIS posted two Arabic-language short teasers purportedly for the upcoming station, a channel that will be called the Islamic Caliphate Broadcast. Both featured sharply edited still images and promise in-depth video to come. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, one of the programmes will offer guidance and support on how to recruit Muslim sympathisers into ISIS’ ranks. The same Haaretz report said that the station would also feature a video series by British captive John Cantile, as well as a daily news program.

Earlier reports said that the station would be broadcast online at khalifalive.info, but that site went dark over the weekend. Whether it will return, or the station will appear at a different Web address, remains to be seen. VARIETY.COM/REUTERS