Revolutionary press blooms underground in Syria – Al Arabiya English + AFP

 27 September 2012

In a country suffocated for decades by state censorship and media control, dozens of independent grassroots newspapers and websites have emerged since the outbreak of the Syrian revolt last year.

Most of these pro-revolution outlets operate in a shroud of secrecy, their contributors using pseudonyms for fear of regime persecution.

But their content is widely read by Syrians hungry for local censorship-free coverage, both inside and outside the country.

Suryitna (Our Syria), Oxygen, Hurriyat (Freedoms) and Enab Baladi (Local Grapes) are just a few newspapers set up by opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which met the uprising that began in March 2011 with brutal repression.

“When we set up Suryitna in September last year, I felt that many peaceful, civil society initiatives were not getting proper coverage,” the independent publication’s chief editor Jawad Abul Muna told AFP.

Most of the “papers” are online, but some activists also print and distribute hard copies in their areas.

“We were so surprised when we found out that hundreds of copies of our paper are being printed in the (central) city of Homs,” some 40 percent of which is in rebel hands, he added.

“As young Syrians, we wanted to participate and support the revolution in any way we could,” said Abul Muna. “The newspaper is a result of our joint effort.”

Like most Syria-based dissidents, Abul Muna uses a pseudonym.

In a state with an Orwellian track record of censorship and persecuting journalists who dare break the rules, dissidents who have spoken out and been caught have paid a high price, said Abul Muna.

“Anyone suspected of contributing to publications like ours gets jailed,” he told AFP. “Many people have sought refuge outside Syria to avoid that fate.”

Last week, international media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned of the perils facing media workers in the “Bermuda Triangle” of the Syrian conflict, pointing a finger at both the regime and rebels.

“We also want to document the history of the past 40 years, which has been blacked out throughout its entirety under (Assad’s) Baath party,” said Abul Muna.

While most readers access Syria’s new publications online, some are printed and handed out. Distribution is carried out secretly in regime-held areas, and openly in what the opposition refers to as “liberated” zones.

The citizen journalists also face a more mundane obstacle, and that is the lack of funding, said Abul Muna.

“What really worries me is the extent to which our outlets will manage to keep participating in the process of change as time goes on, especially after the fall of the regime,” he added.