Syria: The most important and deadly place for journalists

To be a journalist in Syria means you are a target, not of public scrutiny but of President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces. Journalists devoted to reporting factual, sensory, and current events in Syria face the burden of fairly reporting in a highly restrictive and dangerous country and face the challenge of protecting their colleagues, informants, and themselves.

Syria has been dubbed ‘the most dangerous place in the world for journalists‘ because 26 media professionals have died covering the fighting, and five remain missing. For those journalists that survive under these stressful situations, every day of reporting brings new risks of trespassing, being caught, or their safe house becoming compromised.

Many media companies hesitate sending journalists to Syria because of the deadly implications, yet their journalistic presence is one of the few outlets for the world to know what is happening in Syria. The AP news wire and the New York Times are committed to having a strong presence in Syria, although some of their staff have been injured or killed .

Should assignment editors hesitate sending journalists to illegally enter and report in Syria? Or, should assignment editors take the risk in order to provide the public with factual and important reporting in Syria? As a journalist, would you hesitate or take the risk?