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The theatrical release of "A Mighty Heart" – the story of Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder – has called to mind many Americans' first encounter with the grainy terrorist videos from non-descript locations that have become a grim, regular reminder of current affairs. But we're kidding ourselves if we think that the stereotype of low-tech tools and old school propaganda is the reality in Iraq and elsewhere. A new study from Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty today makes clear that we're not merely dealing with an occasional fuzzy hostage video:

Iraq's Sunni insurgency has developed a sophisticated media campaign to deliver its message over the Internet through daily press releases, weekly and monthly magazines, books, video clips, full-length films, countless websites, and even television stations. Part of the target audience for insurgent media projects are mainstream Arabic-language media, which often amplify the insurgent message to a mass audience.

The study is harrowing in its details. According to the Washington Post's coverage of the study:

"Top 20," produced by Ansar al-Sunnah, is a compilation video of attacks on U.S. forces, presented as a greatest-hits competition among "insurgent brigades" for footage of the most spectacular attack. It is made with the express intention to encourage "healthy" rivalry among cells of fighters.

"It is very fast-paced and clearly aimed at the video game generation," says [study author Harold] Kimmage, who is an Arabist and a regional analyst for the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts into Iraq.

From this pop culture-esque highlight show to more traditional media, it looks as if the Al Qaeda and other terrorist factions are have all the media niches covered. The battle for hearts and minds has gone online and multimedia – and the more the rest of us know this, the better.

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