Hariri Hails the Efforts to Establish the “National Media Body”

Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, hails the efforts to establish the “National Media Body,” saying that “in the information age we are living in, the media war has an enormous impact on steering the sails of the Syrian Revolution and on winning over the world’s public opinion of the legitimacy of its existence. The Assad regime’s decades-long clampdown on independent media has deprived Syria of the professional and experienced journalists while tolerating only those whose writings champion its rule and run in line with its propaganda machine. As a result, Syrian citizen journalists covering the events of the revolution has sometimes fell short of conveying the real picture of what is going on in Syria, be it Assad’s brutal crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations or the havoc and destruction caused by his tanks and barrel bombs. Satellite images depicting Assad’s massacres in the Syrian cities are usually kept in closed rooms and are not allowed to be publicized. The need, therefore, has risen to form a national media commission whose task will be raising awareness of the seriousness of the situation and conveying the truth without prejudice or bias.” Hariri points out that “bailing the revolution’s media arms out of the political exploitation and manipulation can only be achieved through laying the foundations of professional and independent journalism in order to take on reporting the situation in Syria. Moreover, the interference of politics in reporting the news and its marring of the truth must be dealt with and remedied by professional journalists capable of guiding the revolution’s media arms. The Assad regime’s decades-long manipulation and suppression of the media is the main reason of the current popular uprising as the information revolution has opened the window for Syrians to look beyond the reality they are living in and juxtapose it with the reality of other peoples. Our duty, as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people and their aspirations, is to initiate the establishment of an independent national media body capable of leading the current stage without affecting the diversity of opinions, thus ensuring the straightening up of the political decision taken by the political blocs. The efforts made by the Syrian media activist and the experience they provide are worthy of respect and appreciation, and our duty today is to refine it and make it the basis of a professional media body. Similarly, no one can deny the need to correct the errors that sometimes marred these efforts as the media war today is as important as battle on the ground. The failure to establish professional and independent media outlets would be detrimental to the revolution and would result in social ramifications. Providing advice to the mass media away from the political constraints imposed by the Assad regime is a prerequisite for success and a step toward reaching out to the local, Arab and the world public opinion and speeding up the wheel of the revolution.”