Author Archives: ay083951

Events in Syria have been spinning out of control over the last few weeks, with coverage all over the world reflecting that and trying to keep up with the changes. Between the claims of chemical weapons being used by both the regime and the rebels, rising tensions between Iran and the West, the growing humanitarian crisis in and around Syria, and now a death toll of over 70,000 and climbing the situation is fast approaching a point where it may no longer be contained. A highlight of this fear that Syria will soon grow into a regional conflict, not just a civil war, were the reports of  Israeli airstrikes two weeks back.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201354434558135.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/20135502043908700.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22419221

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/06/world/meast/qa-israel-syria/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/05/Syrian-capital-witnesses-heavy-explosions-.html

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2013/05/08/gh.html

Two Israeli airstrikes occurred on May 3, and May 5. The reported targets were ‘game changing’ surface to missile delivery systems being shipped to Hezbollah. What’s interesting in terms of coverage is that both Arab and Western news sites essentially focused on the same implication, though with very different tones and perspectives, perhaps reflecting their respective objectives. Most Western media coverage managed to tap intelligence sources that specified the weapons were Fateh-110’s surface-to-surface missiles. The overall tone of news coverage from both the BBC and CNN seems to be focusing on conveying the Obama administrations hesitancy about how to proceed with Syria, along with the concerns of this spreading into a much wider conflict. But if the Western media is displaying trepidation, then the more surprising tone of the reports from the Arab news sites is one of apathy. While there’s certainly not joyous over the news, Arab news media like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have not taken the opportunity to demonstrate their typical outrage when it comes to most things involving Israel. Instead, they’ve used this as a basis to further attack and accuse the Assad regime itself, making sure to put in reminders about the atrocities Assad’s forces are currently committing, or inserting a few jabs at Hezbollah for getting involved in the Syrian conflict in the first place, almost inviting responses like the one Israel just unleashed in a way.  In many ways this seems to be reflective of each parties attitudes on the matter, with the West seeking any way to try and deescalate and resolve the conflict through political means, whereas the Arab world seems more focused on taking decisive action.

Coverage of the ongoing Civil War in Syria has been extremely varied amongst five different news sources. The Guardian’s top story is the recent release of UN hostages held be insurgents the previous week. Al Jazeera is focusing on a number of bodies that have washed up on a river in the city of Aleppo. The BBC is reporting a militant group is claiming responsibility for killing Syrian soldiers in Iraq. Bloomberg is reporting that Turkey has arrested five-people linked to a car-bombing near the Turkish-Syrian border, and Now Lebanon is covering a delay amongst the Syrian opposition for a meeting to form a government. Sprinkled in amongst all of these outlets is concerns about UN reports on the Syrian refugee crisis. Priorities in terms of coverage amongst Western media outlets seems primarily focused on events and impacts outside of Syria while Now Lebanon and Al Jazeera offer more in-depth reporting on events within Syria itself, which may be indicators of each outlet trying to cater to their audiences specific interests on the matter.

1. Al Jazeera

2. The Guardian

3. Now Lebanon

4. BBC

5. Bloomberg