7. Conclusion: A Shifting Enemy

The Conclusion returns to the book’s main argument and draws together the overall findings, linking these back to the core research questions and the dominant themes highlighted in the literature on media representations of al-Qaeda and the media-state-terrorism relationship, more broadly. It moves on to reflect upon the BBC’s overall performance when representing al-Qaeda across the first stage of the ‘war on terror’ period. Here the discussion draws upon interview material with several current and former BBC journalists, editors and documentary film-makers, who each reflect on the various challenges faced when covering ‘al-Qaeda’-related events. The final section also addresses some of the book’s methodological limitations, and ends by reflecting on how the main findings might inform future research on these issues.