Syria / Middle East & North Africa

  
Journalists ride in an army soldiers' carrier to the front line during clashes between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition fighters on August 24, 2013. (Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri)

Arab journalists need training for civil unrest and wars

In recent years, Arab journalists have been taking great risks to report important stories in a region where war and civil unrest remain an ever-present threat. Many are operating without proper equipment or safety training in how to recognize and mitigate the various risks they face.

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Unprecedented response to kidnappings in Syria

In an unprecedented step, more than a dozen international news organizations have signed a joint letter to the Syrian armed opposition about the “disturbing rise in the kidnapping of journalists” in Syria, which has led many outlets to reduce their coverage of the conflict out of safety concerns. The organizations urge the Syrian armed opposition…

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Training can help journalists survive captivity

Two murdered journalists for the Africa service of Radio France Internationale, Ghislaine Dupont, 51, and Claude Verlon, 58, might have had a chance. They were abducted on November 2 in Kidal in northern Mali, but the vehicle their captors were driving suddenly broke down, according to news reports.

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Italian journalist Domenico Quirico was released after being held captive for five months. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

More hope in Syria as two more journalists freed

Just two weeks ago, I wrote that the recent escapes of American Matthew Schrier and French-American Jonathan Alpeyrie after months of captivity should give hope to all missing journalists in Syria. We now have two more reasons for hope. Sunday, the Italian and Belgian governments announced that missing Italian journalist Domenico Quirico and Belgian academic…

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The parents of Austin Tice hold a press conference in Beirut. Tice has been missing for a year. (AFP/Anwar Amro)

Escapees give hope in cases of journalists missing in Syria

It has now been an entire year since Al-Hurra correspondent Bashar Fahmi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, and freelancer Austin Tice, of the United States, went missing in Syria. But the recent liberation of two freelance journalists held for months gives us some reason to hope.

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The home page of SKeyes' interactive 'Journalist Survival Guide.'

Animated journalist survival guide looks ahead

A new English/Arabic online tool is available for citizen journalists who have no previous journalism experience or training but are reporting dangerous frontline stories. It uses animation–a novelty for such guides–and its arrival is timely.

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Obaida Batal, correspondent for Orient News, has been taken hostage in Syria. (Orient News)

Attacks on Orient News illustrate Syria’s many threats

It is increasingly difficult to document violations against the press in Syria, let alone hold those responsible to account. It has always been hard to verify facts within the country. But now, the sheer number of violations and the expanding list of violators have become admittedly overwhelming. 

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An image grab from a YouTube video uploaded on December 18 allegedly shows NBC employees, from left to right, Aziz Akyavas, Richard Engel, and John Kooistra in captivity in Syria. (AFP/YouTube)

Do news blackouts help journalists held captive?

At any given time over the past two years, as wars raged in Libya and then Syria, and as other conflicts ground on in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, a number of journalists have been held captive by a diverse array of forces, from militants and rebels to criminals and paramilitaries. And at any given…

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As Syria becomes riskier for both staff and freelance journalists, news organizations are more reliant on images from citizen journalists. An example is this image showing devastation in Aleppo, which was taken by the Aleppo Media Center and transmitted by The Associated Press on Sunday. (AP/Aleppo Media Center)

In Syria, the quandary of freelance news coverage

Forces on all sides of the Syrian conflict that have tried to censor news coverage through violence have won a round. By sharply increasing the risk for reporters covering the civil war they have forced news organizations to think twice before sending their staff to the battlefields. In a worrying development they even have led…

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A Syrian pilot shot down and taken prisoner is interviewed by Al-Jazeera on October 17. (YouTube)

Humanitarian law, ethics, and journalism in Syria

A small number of journalists reporting from Syria have recently interviewed prisoners of war under highly coercive circumstances. In doing so, they have ignored the protections that are due to prisoners under international humanitarian law, or IHL.

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