In the past 3 years we have seen the brutal uprising of an Islamic Caliphate or  ‘Islamic State’.

In August 2014, ISIS filmed the beheading of American journalist James Foley and posted it online.

 

This project aimed to highlight the attitudes to acts of terrorism in the UK media. I collected data from social media (mainly twitter) showing ISIS support, ISIS opposition from the liberal to the far right nationalist, the UK Government’s response and the subsequent media storm fanned by the tabloids, from the 28 days following the execution. The outcome was a video taking the viewer through the various stages of action/reaction from different groups of varying extremes, and how the tabloid media twisted the event to fuel nationwide hostility towards Muslims in the UK. 

 

And it worked, statstics show that racially motivated crimes towards Muslims doubled from the average 112 per month in January 2014, to 219 in August 2014 : the month of James Foley’s murder. Now, in 2016. It couldn’t be more relevant. I started this project in September 2014, and the conflict has only become more severe on both sides; more bloodshed, more hatred and the world’s Muslims caught in the middle.