Jihadi Magazine Inspire, Reaches Niche Market in the West

The World

Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism research fellow at the New America Foundation, talks with anchor Marco Werman about Inspire, an online magazine that published a recipe for a pressure cooker bomb like the ones used at the Boston Marathon bombings.

“Inspire was a product designed for a very specific purpose which was reaching out to folks in the West and trying to inspire them to take violent action in the West on their own. It was a niche brand for a niche market, with a very distinct purpose,” Fishman says.

Fishman discussed Inspire’s contents, but not without some trepidation.

“We face a real moral dilemma, I think, as scholars that study this and as a media, because we have an obligation to tell the truth about the kinds of material that is out there, and that people are attracted to and potentially getting information from,” Fishman says. “But at the same time, there’s a real risk that people will become aware of things by conversations like the one we’re having.”

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!