384 media activists have been killed from the beginning of the Syrian revolution until the end of December 2014
Introduction
With the end of 2014, nearly four years have passed since the beginning of the Syrian revolution and media reality in Syria has become a dangerous unsuitable environment for professional independent journalism. As more and more crimes and violations are being perpetrated against media activists and journalists, in addition to the growing void in the media scene and the weapon’s dominance over the power of word, the commitment to the principles and ethics of journalism have been considerably undermined, credibility, accuracy, and objectivity in covering the news have all been hugely disregarded, facts and truth are obscured, the difficulty to monitor the news is increasing, and politicized media is growing stronger at the expense of the independent journalism.
Media activist who are still in Syria are unable to challenge and confront the oppression and risks they are facing in their work without protection or some serious efforts to put an end to the crimes and violations against them. Every day, they are paying the dearest prices for their bravery and commitment to report the news.
Despite the fact that the number of crimes against media activists have relatively decreased over the past few months especially by Daesh and other armed forces, these crimes are still a clear indication that the policy of violence has managed to undermine the media work. Additionally, this indicates also that violence and terrorization caused an increasing void in the media scene as there is a great lack of independent and free media institutions.
SNHR anticipated this outcome and we already noted that in many previous reports.
A large portion of media activists who decided to stay in their areas joined armed groups. With the domination of weapon and power, the chance of getting accurate information is diminishing as media is now a method of warfare in Syria.