Al-Qaida leapt into the information age with the formation of the Global Islamic Media Front, which in fall 2005 was advertising for jihad-minded employees with media experience or online experience. Moving beyond the shaky HandyCam videos dropped on the doorstep of Al-Jazeera, al-Qaida's production unit was named As-Sahab, meaning "the cloud." Since its formation, al-Qaida's production value has progressed from the standard wall-and-gun backdrop to putting Ayman al-Zawahri on a "60 Minutes"-style set, as well as offering news programming and other propaganda videos.
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