SYRIA: The Deadliest Country for Journalists

“To hold a pen is to be at war” Voltaire.

Written by: Sarah Abed (The Rabbit Hole) July 13th, 2017
Published on Global Research and American Herald Tribune July 14th 2017

Journalists have been targeted in war zones for decades. “Local and foreign correspondents were among the first detainees of the victorious Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1975. Western journalists, and even those who sought to free them, were held hostage for years during Lebanon’s civil war in the 1980s, and dozens of reporters in Latin America have been grabbed by paramilitaries or drug cartels.” Robert Mahoney CPJ/Deputy Director

But the sheer scale of the problem since the Arab uprisings is unprecedented, according to CPJ data. Of the 227 journalists killed globally since 2011, one-third died covering Syria.

Image Credit: Committee to Protect Journalists

More than in any other war in recent history, a highly-funded, well-coordinated propaganda campaign has fueled the aggressive interventionist invasion in Syria. Mainstream media has led entire populations of people, especially in the West into supporting a foreign created and imported war on a sovereign nation, that prior to this invasion did not have any of the issues that exist today.

War propaganda has lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths in Syria, and millions of refugees, and billions in losses due to infrastructure being destroyed. The fact that well-meaning people will support such a devious, deadly, unrighteous, harmful and illegal war without even questioning the motives behind, the key players, the amount of suffering and damage it has caused is both disheartening and outrageous.

It has also lead to a significant number of journalists being kidnapped and killed while reporting on the ground. As a result, many fake activists have taken over social media and mainstream media. They have risen to fame under the guise of being truthful citizen reporters who just want the world to see the misery that the “regime” is putting them through. They are in fact paid mouthpieces for the opposition and armed terrorist groups. They have strong connections with Anti-Assad media and are the darlings of mainstream media news such as CNN, BBC, and AlJazeera. They are eager to have them on, give them airtime to spew their scripted narratives and convince a slew of people that the Syrian Army, Russian Army, and the Syrian government are committing atrocities against civilians. Of course, these media outlets take everything they say as the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them, God. They do not question nor do they debate. They will, however, push a story and make it into a headline and that is how propaganda is bought and sold to the masses.

However, they will not afford that same attention, time, or respect for independent journalists that do not follow the demonization script. They will altogether ignore them and pretend like they do not exist. It’s really quite cynical.

It's imperative that we take whatever action necessary to get people out of this submissive trance that they are under, and free them from the chains of their own cognitive dissonance, which they have been placed under by the government, educational system, marketing, media etc. for far too long.

Robert Mahoney/CPJ Deputy Director wrote an article about journalist beheadings in Syria reigniting a debate over risk and safety for freelancers. In it, he said “now that the initial wave of revulsion at the beheading of two young journalists has passed, the international media is wringing its hands and asking how it can spare others the heartbreak of the families of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. In talking with freelance and staff journalists, and editors, it’s clear that the murders have rekindled the debate about safety and responsibility in the news business.”

“Once you are kidnapped in Syria it’s a completely black hole you’re never going to come out of,”Nicole Tung, a freelance photographer who worked with James Foley, said.

Janine di Giovanni, who has been covering conflict for multiple outlets since the Balkan war, agreed that journalists were being increasingly targeted, especially for kidnap.

“The freelancers I am concerned about are the freelancers who are really out there and off the grid… who have a string of people they work for, you know, but aren’t in constant contact with their editors, aren’t getting backing, have to buy their own flak jackets, have to rent their own satellite phone, don’t have anyone looking after them,” she said.

This is done in an effort to silence the truth. The most dangerous weapon against a mass media campaign is the truth.

You can read the full length article here https://sarahabed.com/2017/07/13/syria-killing-journalists-enabled-fake-media-activist-domination-in-msm/