In March 2011, Syrians held a protest against the totalitarian regime that had been ruling the country for nearly 40 years. No one could have predicted the outcome of this brave move. The people who took to the streets chose to demonstrate their will to force change into lives of millions of Syrians, with a clear message of “FREEDOM” and “LIBERTY” for all.
Hama, Syria (July 2011)
The ethnic and sectarian diversity of Syria was used by the regime’s propaganda to instantly fuel conflicts among Syrians. The regime’s media channels used terms such as “terrorist groups” and “mercenaries” to describe what turned out to be peaceful protesters, as the head of the Regime, Bashar Al-Assad, himself admitted in a televised speech in June 2012.
The regime’s decision of how to handle the increasing amount of protests was clear: by using systematic propaganda to persuade minorities and their supporters, spreading lies, manipulating masses by falsely reporting news across the country, capturing civil rights activists, many of whom are still under arrest, and occasional political posturing such as issuing general amnesties and releasing radicals from prisons.
The regime had succeeded in creating a false reality for his supporters due to the lack of professional journalism to stand against this brutal machine. But thanks to social media, most notably Facebook which was quiet popular among Syrians back in 2011, people were able to report events, demonstrations, and to document war crimes by all armed groups in Syria, using mobile devices and cameras.
Through these 5 years of war and suffering, we have evolved and changed. Many of us have fled our country due to threats, many of us have died, many of us have started our own organised effort to report and cover events and news coming from Syria.
So… What is “IRT”? WHO ARE WE? And Why Steemit?
IRT is an acronym for “Instant Reporting Team”
It is an independent media team that believes in the Syrian people's right to freedom, justice, and equality, delivering Syrian news through the IRT platform to local, Arabic, and international audiences with integrity, honesty, and credibility. The team also aims to actively involve the largest possible spectrum of Syrians in this collective effort, taking it upon itself to strengthen the role of citizen media in countering problematic reports the involvement of a wide range of political and military parties. Our team consists of more than 60 members from around the world. Most members remain in Syria in areas of conflict, with reporters located in territories held by ISIS, FSA, Kurds, and the regime. Other members are currently refugees in Sweden, Denmark, UK, USA, Germany, France, and Turkey.
Despite a few weak attempts, Syria never had a professional media outlet before the revolution. When it came to political forum discussions, the Syrian media was a mirror that told the regime how beautiful it is (Cough, cough. North Korea. Cough.) ***
The revolution caused a huge outburst in the media landscape due to years of oppression, leading to a surge in online newspapers, websites and radio stations. Due to lack of professional base to build upon, and basically being enslaved by big political donors, many media groups and efforts failed to deliver the Syrian tragedy and the Syrian voice to the world. Therefore, during those five years, independent journalists on social media moved into the spotlight. The numbers of citizen journalists significantly increased as they provided valuable information with the ease of communication.
These independent media efforts evolved into focused media groups that now consist of hundreds of activists and followers. After a lot of experimental attempts with groups that worked to publish news, our team formed with five years of experience working closely with many source groups, collaborating together to provide reliable information and analysis of the Syrian crisis.
And here comes the conclusion: we are on Steemit because we want to keep being independent. We want to stay away from influence and we believe that Steemit can help us maintain our platforms and meet our goals when it comes to the future of this team.
I only heard about this platform a couple of months ago but I never actually thought about checking it out until @Oleg326756 filled me in on the details of what it’s about. We were at a meetup in Uppsala, Sweden, where we discussed bitcoins and the potential future of encrypted currencies with a few of other enthusiasts.
We welcome all your questions, comments and stay tuned for our first "Try to be daily” report!
IRT Board