Media coverage of the Syrian civil war

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Bashar Al-Assad fleeing Hamza Ali al-Khatib, the Syrian boy whose killing sparked massive protests across the country. Cartoon by Carlos Latuff Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb.gif
Bashar Al-Assad fleeing Hamza Ali al-Khatib, the Syrian boy whose killing sparked massive protests across the country. Cartoon by Carlos Latuff

Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, all sides have used social media to try to discredit their opponents by using negative terms such as 'Syrian regime' for the government, 'armed gangs/terrorists' for the rebels, 'Syrian government/US State Department propaganda', 'biased', 'US/Western/foreign involvement'.[ citation needed ] According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, given the complexity of the Syrian conflict, media bias in reporting remains a key challenge, plaguing the collection of useful data and misinforming researchers and policymakers regarding the actual events taking place. [1]

Contents

Internet activists

Social media

As in the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the Internet played a major role in the organization and coverage of the protests/armed-uprising. As of 2011 the largest Facebook page in support of the Syrian uprising was "The Syrian Revolution 2011", which claimed more than 383,000 followers. The page, co-founded by Fida al-Sayed, reports on news related to the uprising and provides general guidelines for protests. As of 2020, it had more than 6.5 million followers. [2] [ non-primary source needed ][ non-primary source needed ]

As of 2015 the largest Facebook page in support of the Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad has more than 2,958,595 followers. [3] [ non-primary source needed ][ non-primary source needed ]

Mobiles

Since international news media was banned in Syria, the main source of second-hand information/dis-information was private videos usually taken by shaky mobile phone cameras and uploaded to YouTube. Such videos were difficult to verify independently, and several TV stations showed older footage from Iraq and Lebanon, which was claimed to have been filmed in Syria. [7] [8]

Visual media

Between January 2012 and September 2013, over a million videos documenting the war have been uploaded, and they have received hundreds of millions of views. [9] The Wall Street Journal states that the "unprecedented confluence of two technologies—cellphone cams and social media—has produced, via the instant upload, a new phenomenon: the YouTube war." The New York Times states that online videos have "allowed a widening war to be documented like no other." [10]

Prominent videos include the rebel commander Abu Sakkar cutting organs from the dead body of a Syrian soldier and putting one of them in his mouth, "as if he is taking a bite out of it". He called rebels to follow his example and terrorize the Alawite sect, which mostly backs Assad. [11] [12]

Propaganda

Since the start of the war, all sides have used the media to try to discredit their opponents and show them in their worst possible light. On the other hand, not all situations have been shown in the worst possible light. [13]

Journalists interviewing Russian General Igor Konashenkov (ru:Igor' Konashenkov) at Bassel Al-Assad International Airport during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Rabota zhurnalistov na aviabaze <<Khmeimim>> v Sirii (10).jpg
Journalists interviewing Russian General Igor Konashenkov (ru:И́горь Конаше́нков) at Bassel Al-Assad International Airport during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War

Syria is ranked the third most repressive country in the world in terms of press freedom by the Committee to Protect Journalists, [14] and the 4th most repressive by Reporters Without Borders. [15] Propaganda has been used by the Syrian government since the beginning of the conflict. [16] Ba'athist government's propaganda outlet SANA has repeatedly characterized Syrian opposition groups as "armed terrorist gangs". [17] Former employees have said that Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)'s role was to "fabricate, make deceptions and cover up for Bashar al-Assad's crimes" and that television interviews sometimes use government supporters 'disguised as locals' who stand near sites of destruction and claim that they were caused by rebel fighters. [16] [18]

Al-Jazeera has also been accused of biased coverage. The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir cited outtakes of interviews showing that the channel's staff coached Syrian eyewitnesses and fabricated reports of oppression by Syria's government. It refers to leaked internal e-mails suggest that Al Jazeera has become subordinated to the Qatari emir's assertive foreign policy, which supports Syria's rebels and advocates military intervention in the country. [19] [ better source needed ] Al Jazeera reportedly put pressure on its journalists to use the term "martyr" for slain Syrian rebels, but not pro-government forces. [20] In January 2013, a former news editor at Al Jazeera, who was from Syria, and had been at Al Jazeera for "nearly a decade" was fired without cause given, but in an interview stated their belief that it was linked to his/her resistance of ongoing strong pressure to conform to biased coverage of the Syrian civil war. The former editor stated that the Muslim Brotherhood was "controlling the Syrian file at Al-Jazeera" with both organizations biasing news coverage in favour of the Brotherhood ousting the Syrian government of Assad by force and warning the then-editor "the majority [in Syria] is with the Muslim Brotherhood and [taking power] is within our grasp" so "thank your god if you get a pardon when we become the government." The source named the names of several other former employees who resigned in protest, including director of the Berlin bureau Aktham Sleiman, a Syrian, "who was, at the beginning, with the [Syrian] opposition" but resisted what the interviewee terms the "lies and despicable [political and ethnic] sectarianism" and concluded that "Al-Jazeera has lied and is still lying" about Syria and in favour of armed overthrow and of the Muslim Brotherhood. [21] [22] [ better source needed ]

Hoaxes

Both sides have been distributing on social media videos and photos of violence, while falsely claiming that the atrocities had been committed by the opposition: later it turned out to be footage from conflicts in other countries. [23] [24]

Examples:

Attacks on journalists

It has been maintained that, by October 2012, 'more than hundred professional or citizen journalists' had reportedly been killed in the Syrian Civil War. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 13 journalists were killed in work-related incidents during the first eighteen months of the uprising. [29] During the same period, Reporters Without Borders said a total of 33 journalists were killed. [30] The Sunday Times contributor Marie Colvin was killed by an explosion during the battle of Homs, [31] but at least one, French journalist Gilles Jacquier, was killed by rebel mortar fire. [32]

Except for those selected by the Syrian government, journalists have been banned from reporting in Syria. Those who have entered the country regardless have been targeted. Within a month of the protests taking off, at least seven local and international journalists were detained, and at least one of them was beaten. [33] 'Citizen journalist' Mohammed Abdelmawla al-Hariri was arrested in April 2012, tortured in prison, and sentenced to death in May 2012 for giving an interview for Al Jazeera. [34] Jordanian Salameh Kaileh was tortured and detained in deplorable conditions before being deported. [35]

NBC News team kidnapping

On 13 December 2012, NBC News reporter Richard Engel and his five crew members, Aziz Akyavaş, Ghazi Balkiz, John Kooistra, Ian Rivers and Ammar Cheikh Omar, were abducted in Syria. Having escaped after five days in captivity, Engel said he believed that a Shabiha group loyal to al-Assad was behind the abduction, and that the crew was freed by the Ahrar ash-Sham group five days later. [36] Engel's account was however challenged from early on. [37] In April 2015, NBC had to revise the kidnapping account, following further investigations by The New York Times, which suggested that the NBC team "was almost certainly taken by a Sunni criminal element affiliated with the Free Syrian Army," rather than by a loyalist Shia group. [38]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashar al-Assad</span> President of Syria since 2000

Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician who is the current and 19th president of Syria since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which nominally espouses a neo-Ba'athist ideology. His father and predecessor was General Hafiz al-Assad, whose presidency in 1971–2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a de facto dynastic dictatorship, tightly controlled by an Alawite-dominated elite composed of the armed forces and the Mukhabarat, who are loyal to the al-Assad family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass media in Syria</span> Overview of Syrian mass media

The mass media in Syria consists primarily of television, radio, Internet, film and print. The national language of Syria is Arabic but some publications and broadcasts are also available in English and French. While television is the most popular medium in Syria, the Internet has become a widely utilized vehicle to disseminate content. Transcending all available media, the government seeks to control what Syrians see by restricting coverage from outside sources. Publications and broadcasts are monitored by members of the government. All mass media outlets are under the supervision of the Ministry of Information. Third article of the 2013 Information Ministry guidelines stipulate that purpose of all media outlets is "to enlighten public opinion" in line with the ideological doctrines "of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the policy of the state".

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2011, including the escalation of violence in many Syrian cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Syrian Army</span> Opposition faction in the Syrian Civil War

The Free Syrian Army is a big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition armed militias in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defected from the Syrian Armed Forces. The officers announced that the immediate priority of the Free Syrian Army was to safeguard the lives of protestors and civilians from the deadly crackdown by Bashar al-Assad's security apparatus; with the ultimate goal of accomplishing the objectives of the Syrian revolution, namely, the end to the decades-long reign of the ruling al-Assad family. In late 2011, the FSA was the main Syrian military defectors group. Initially a formal military organization at its founding, its original command structure dissipated by 2016, and the FSA identity has since been used by various Syrian opposition groups.

Protests began in Syria as early as 26 January 2011, and erupted on 15 March 2011 with a "Day of Rage" protest generally considered to mark the start of a nationwide uprising. The Syrian government's reaction to the protests became violent on 16 March, and deadly on 18 March, when four unarmed protesters were killed in Daraa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Homs</span> Siege in Syria

The siege of Homs was a military confrontation between the Syrian military and the Syrian opposition in the city of Homs, a major rebel stronghold during the Syrian Civil War. The siege lasted three years from May 2011 to May 2014, and ultimately resulted in an opposition withdrawal from the city.

The Rif Dimashq clashes were a series of unrests and armed clashes in and around Damascus, the capital of Syria, from November 2011 until a stalemate in March 2012. The violence was part of the wider early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war. Large pro-government and anti-government protests took place in the suburbs and center of Damascus, with the situation escalating when members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) started attacking military targets in November.

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2012, during which time the spate of protests that began in January 2011 lasted into another calendar year. An Arab League monitoring mission ended in failure as Syrian troops and anti-government militants continued to do battle across the country and the Syrian government prevented foreign observers from touring active battlefields, including besieged opposition strongholds. A United Nations-backed ceasefire brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan met a similar fate, with unarmed UN peacekeepers' movements tightly controlled by the government and fighting.

Gilles Jacquier was a French photojournalist and reporter for France Télévisions. Jacquier worked as a special correspondent for Envoyé spécial, one of France's best known documentary programs which airs on France 2. He had a successful career, has covered major international military conflicts and won many awards during his life. He was killed on 11 January 2012 while covering the ongoing Syrian Civil War in Homs, Syria. Jacquier was the first Western journalist killed in Syria since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2012. The majority of death tolls reported for each day comes from the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition activist group based in Syria, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another opposition group based in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War crimes in the Syrian civil war</span>

War crimes in the Syrian civil war have been numerous and serious. A United Nations report published in August 2014 stated that "the conduct of the warring parties in the Syrian Arab Republic has caused civilians immeasurable suffering". Another UN report released in 2015 stated that the war has been "characterized by a complete lack of adherence to the norms of international law" and that "civilians have borne the brunt of the suffering inflicted by the warring parties". Various countries have prosecuted several war criminals for a limited number of atrocities committed during the Syrian civil war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Damascus (2012)</span> During the Syrian civil war

The Battle of Damascus, also known as Operation Damascus Volcano, started on 15 July 2012 during the Syrian civil war. It is unclear who started the battle. Thousands of rebels infiltrated Damascus from the surrounding countryside. Following this, according to some reports, the opposition forces launched an operation to capture the capital, while according to other reports, the military learned of the large-scale rebel operation beforehand and made a preemptive strike. Some reports even suggested the rebels launched the operation prematurely due to their plans being discovered by the security forces.

This page provides maps and a list of cities and towns during the Syrian civil war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rif Dimashq offensive (August–October 2012)</span> Syrian army campaign

The Rif Dimashq offensive was a Syrian Army offensive in the Rif Dimashq Governorate during August–October 2012, as part of the Syrian Civil War.

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from September to December 2012. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.

The Battle of Yarmouk Camp was a period of fierce clashes in Yarmouk Camp during the Syrian civil war. Yarmouk is a district of Damascus that is home to the biggest community of Palestinian refugees in Syria. The fighting was between the Syrian Army and PFLP-GC on one side, and Syrian rebels on the other. The rebels included the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and a group made up of Palestinians, called Liwa al-Asifa or Storm Brigade. On 17 December, it was reported that the FSA and anti-Assad Palestinians had taken control of the camp. The FSA and Syrian Army agreed to leave Yarmouk as a neutral, demilitarized zone, but sporadic clashes continued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syrian revolution</span> Revolution in Syria in 2011

The Syrian revolution, also known as the Syrian Revolution of Dignity, was the series of mass protests and uprisings – with subsequent violent reaction by the Syrian Arab Republic – lasting from March 2011 to June 2012, as part of the wider Arab Spring in the Arab world. The revolution, which demanded the end of the decades-long rule of Assad family, began as minor demonstrations during January 2011 and transformed into nation-wide mass protests in March. The uprising was marked by large-scale protests against the Ba'athist dictatorship of president Bashar al-Assad, meeting with police and military violence, massive arrests and a brutal crackdown, resulting in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands wounded.

The 2014 Syrian detainee report, also known as the Caesar Report, formally titled A Report into the credibility of certain evidence with regard to Torture and Execution of Persons Incarcerated by the current Syrian regime, is a report that claims to detail "the systematic killing of more than 11,000 detainees by the Syrian government in one region during the Syrian Civil War over a two and half year period from March 2011 to August 2013". It was released on 21 January 2014, a day before talks were due to begin at the Geneva II Conference on Syria, and was commissioned by the government of Qatar. Qatar has been a key funder of the rebels in Syria. The Syrian government questioned the report due to its ties to hostile sides against the Syrian government and pointed to how many of the photos were identified as casualties among international terrorists fighting the Syrian government or Syrian army troops or civilians massacred by them due to supporting the Syrian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war</span> Part of the Syrian Civil War

The early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war lasted from late July 2011 to April 2012, and was associated with the rise of armed oppositional militias across Syria and the beginning of armed rebellion against the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic. Though armed insurrection incidents began as early as June 2011 when rebels killed 120–140 Syrian security personnel, the beginning of organized insurgency is typically marked by the formation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on 29 July 2011, when a group of defected officers declared the establishment of the first organized oppositional military force. Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel, the rebel army aimed to remove Bashar al-Assad and his government from power.

References

  1. ↑ "I. Measuring conflict incidence in Syria". Sipri Yearbook. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Syrian Revolution 2011". Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2019– via Facebook.
  3. ↑ "قناة الميادين – Al Mayadeen Tv". Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015– via Facebook.
  4. ↑ Rick Gladstone; Megan Specia; Sydney Ember (7 December 2016). "Girl Posting to Twitter From Aleppo Gains Sympathy, but Doubts Follow". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, Noah Shachtman,Michael (17 October 2014). "The Kardashian Look-Alike Trolling for Assad". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 21 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "US, CIA once found Syrian torture useful". The Denver Post. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Media Watch: Beware the 'trusted' source". ABC. Australia. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Gigantisk DR-bommert uden konsekvenser –". Avisen.dk. 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "Syria's War Viewed Almost in Real Time". The Wall Street Journal. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Watching Syria's War". NYT. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "Syria: Brigade Fighting in Homs Implicated in Atrocities". Human Rights Watch. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Outrage at Syrian rebel shown 'eating soldier's heart'". BBC. 14 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Alison Meuse (1 November 2016). "The Damascus Paradox: Everyday Life in a Country Torn By War". NPR National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016. Many here seem to be carrying on with grace and dignity, even enjoying mundane, simple pleasures – like the teenage girls and a 40-something man snapping selfies in front of a giant "I (Heart) Damascus" sculpture in a main square.
  14. ↑ "10 Most Censored Countries". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Press Freedom Index 2011–2012". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Defecting Syrian propagandist says his job was 'to fabricate'". CNN. 9 October 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Opposition: 127 dead as Syrian forces target civilians". CNN. 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  18. ↑ Chulov, Martin (3 July 2012). "Syrian regime TV reporter defects". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "Al-Jazeera Gets Rap as Qatar Mouthpiece". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "Syria's Electronic Warriors Hit Al Jazeera". Al Akhbar English. 24 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  21. ↑ An exclusive interview with a news editor of Al-Jazeera Channel Archived 19 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine at AxisOfLogin
  22. ↑ An exclusive interview with a news editor of Al-Jazeera Channel Archived 14 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine at FilmBoxOffice
  23. ↑ Military & Defense Contributors (13 November 2012). "Disturbing Fake Videos Are Making The Rounds in Syria". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  24. ↑ Tracey Shelton. "The most disturbing fake videos making the rounds in Syria". GlobalPost. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  25. ↑ "'A Gay Girl in Damascus' comes clean". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  26. ↑ "SYRIA! SYRIAN HERO BOY rescue girl in shootout. SEE THIS!! الصبي السوري البطل". alaa hassen. 4 November 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2016– via YouTube. from 00m00s to 1m06s
  27. ↑ "#BBCTrending: Syrian 'hero boy' video faked by Norwegian director". BBC News. 14 November 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  28. ↑ "Woman says she's runaway, wasn't killed in Syrian custody". CNN. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "Journalists Killed in Syria since 1992". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012. N.B. According to the organisation, no journalists were killed in Syria between 1992 and the start of the uprising.
  30. ↑ "Thirty-Three Professional and Citizen Journalists Killed since March 2011". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  31. ↑ Wardrop, Murray (22 February 2012). "Syria: Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin 'killed in Homs'". The telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  32. ↑ Malbrunot, Georges (17 July 2012). "Jacquier: l'enquête française pointe les rebelles syriens" [Jacquier: French investigation points to Syrian rebels]. Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  33. ↑ "Syria: Rampant Torture of Protesters". Human Rights Watch. 16 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  34. ↑ "Citizen journalist sentenced to death for Al-Jazeera interview – Reporters Without Borders". Reports Without Borders. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  35. ↑ "Syria: Deported Palestinian journalist speaks out about torture in custody". Amnesty International. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  36. ↑ Brian Stelter; Sebnem Arsu (18 December 2012), "Richard Engel of NBC Is Freed in Syria", The New York Times, archived from the original on 6 November 2015, retrieved 8 December 2015
  37. ↑ Jamie Dettmer (22 December 2012). "Richard Engel's Kidnapping: A Behind the Scenes Look". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  38. ↑ Ravi Somaiya; C. J. Chivers; Karam Shoumali (15 April 2015). "NBC News Alters Account of Correspondent's Kidnapping in Syria". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
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