ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers some of the broader questions and issues facing this research field. It focuses on an interesting technique of influence, journalist leaks, which are strategically used by state and non-state actors to shape public opinion, decision-making and the distribution of power between competing elites. The book introduces readers to scholarly debates regarding strategic leaking, propaganda and journalistic reporting, and examines how key actors attempted to manage and exploit leaks during the 2016 US presidential election and the ‘Panama Papers’. It demonstrates that leaking must be increasingly seen within wider surveillance capabilities, coercive and propagandistic security strategies, and that research on its relationship to governance and changing methods of propaganda is much needed. Scholars of violent extremism and Countering Violent Extremism must pay attention not only to the narrative but also to the broader aesthetics of communication.
