At this year’s International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, Syrian participants included Kholoud Helmi of Enab Baladi, Loujein Haj Youssef of Radio Rozana, and Yassin Swehat of Al‑Jumhuriya. Photo by Andrea di Valvasone. Licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
A critical moment for Syrian media
Camilla Bruun Randrup of IMS tells of old and new challenges for independent news media in Syria.
3 MAY 2025
International Media Support is a Danish organisation that works with independent media around the world. Camilla Bruun Randrup has been with them for over two years now. “And I’m the one responsible for our programme in Syria,” she tells us.
We’ve called Camilla to get more of an overview of Syrian independent news media, and to hear how organisations like IMS are involved.
“Even before 2011, we had a few things going in Syria, but it really kicked off after the start of the revolution,” she says. Since then, IMS has supported several independent media organisations in establishing themselves and becoming more professionalised.
“With the revolution, you saw lots of new initiatives, but over the years that has become a small group.” Many initiatives died because they couldn’t get funding, or because political obstacles became insurmountable. “Our own funding has also been up and down,” Camilla adds. Currently IMS receives funding from the Swedish and Norwegian governments.
“We support individual media in terms of funding, but it’s combined with capacity development specific to individual organisations, and we also have networking as one of our big goals,” she explains. “We keep an eye on the media landscape, and establish partnerships based on analysis of how it is developing, which in Syria is more interesting than ever these days.”
Up to now it has been tricky to collect data on the media landscape inside Syria, but Camilla offers some insights. “So, there’s no question that online has its limitations. Many Syrians still prefer to get their news from radio and TV. And given Syrian TV’s history of state control, it’ll be interesting to see what new alternatives emerge.”
Whether there is actually an audience for print is something that needs to be explored, Camilla thinks. “Enab Baladi are experimenting now with printing their newspaper. It’s a good idea, but it’s also very costly. And getting it out to people in different areas of Syria is also a challenge right now.”
To serve the needs of all Syrians, different layers of media are needed. “So, you need a layer that is national, covering the full country, but then you also need the local media,” she says. “Some local media have been working over the years, and they are quite established. They have a big audience in the local communities, they know the communities, and that is really important. They need support to develop their editorial line and organisation.”
It’s equally important that national media find and train reporters for different areas of Syria, she believes. “And that has two challenges to it. One is hiring new staff, when right now these organisations can barely survive financially. But it’s also investing in training journalists to be able to do the job, because right now it’s very difficult to find qualified staff inside Syria. And that also requires funding, which is currently not available.”
After years of propaganda, many Syrians remain very skeptical of all media sources, Camilla says. And in what she describes as “a chaotic information landscape,” there is much to be skeptical about, so fact-checking efforts like Verify Syria are very important. “Trying to decrease the number of false narratives going around is extremely important, so I’m amazed with what Verify Syria has been doing. But also, independent media plays a very significant role in making sure that the risk of disinformation and propaganda is less, and that people get fact-based information.”
Right now, the legal framework for independent media in Syria is an area IMS would like to explore, together with partners. “How can we promote a more comprehensive reform to the legal framework, when it comes to media liberties, and government oversight of media and journalists?” is the question. “It has been extremely challenging for many years, but we’re hoping that this is something that can be done now.”
So far in the new Syria, the rules are unclear. “It’s like a case by case whether you can easily get permission to operate as a journalist,” Camilla hears. “There have been cases where journalists got permission, but then it was withdrawn again.”
When it comes to registering as an independent media outlet, there isn’t a clear path. “What kind of registration do you need? Can you operate if you don’t have the registration, or not?” Camilla’s impression is that people are getting different messages depending on who they talk to.
“As I’ve heard, there is a process that you can go through, but it’s a very unclear process where you are asked to provide a lot of details, and also personal information that shouldn’t be needed.” With Syria’s history, this makes people a little bit anxious. “Why are they asking for this kind of information? What do they need it for?”
In December, just one week after the old regime fell, four of Syria’s leading independent media organisations issued a statement on press freedom in post-Assad Syria. “I think that was impressive how quickly they issued this bold statement prioritising the need for a new legal framework for media,” Camilla remarks.
In that statement, Al-Jumhuriya, Arta FM, Enab Baladi, and Radio Rozana, wrote about the cost to journalists of reporting during the revolution. “Reporters Without Borders have documented the deaths of 283 journalists killed in connection with their work,” they pointed out, with 161 of them killed by the Assad regime, “and dozens more by other forces seeking to suppress the truth.”
A truly free media requires justice and accountability, the statement said. It requires abolition of the ministry of information, the elimination of all forms of censorship, and an independent regulatory body established through a participatory process. The signatories called for legal protections for freedom of speech and of the press, with constitutional guarantees linking media rights and freedoms to relevant international agreements.
For the transition period, the statement emphasised the need for a prohibition on censorship; for opinions and reporting to be legally protected; for journalists’ rights to be safeguarded; with no deprivation of liberty; protection of journalistic materials; protection against unlawful searches; a right to public information; equal access to information; institutional facilitation of access to information; source protection; freedom to publish without prior licensing; abolishment of language restrictions; freedom and safety for women journalists; and the lifting of restrictions on funding.
“So, there is an active, evolving conversation,” Camilla says. “It includes independent media, but also legal experts and human rights advocates. And I’m quite sure that they will fight hard for a just and accountable framework.”
Turning to funding, Camilla confirms what Kholoud Helmi told us earlier, that there had been a big drop in international support around 2017. “Since then, every year there has been less funding for Syria, and for independent media in Syria.” Donors changed priorities, she says, and even when they were interested in Syria, it was mainly for emergency aid, and not for long-term development.
Many of the media organisations that IMS partnered with were forced to close. Those remaining struggled to survive, and more risk shutting down if the situation doesn’t change. “I was in Damascus two months ago, and many of our partners said, ‘We waited years for this moment, we prepared for it—and now there’s no funding.”
It’s not just the United States cutting support—other governments have announced their own cuts, including the UK. And some donors question why are these organisations not able to generate an income themselves, to become self-sustaining? “But it hasn’t been realistic for our partners to actually make a significant profit,” Camilla says.
“Media in Nordic countries, for instance, they are dependent on government support, so it felt like they were putting something on Syrian independent media that no Nordic media can actually live up to.”
Supporting quality independent media is clearly good for the health of Syrian society and individual Syrians. But there are also security risks in poor quality news media, we suggest, and these can have international implications.
“When I speak with donors, there’s clear recognition of the importance of supporting independent media—but for now the political climate has pushed funding into a narrow, almost exclusive focus on humanitarian aid. Many donors seem hesitant to engage in longer term development.”
This approach of watching and waiting worries Camilla, “because if we want meaningful progress, independent media isn’t optional—it’s essential,” she insists.
“The information landscape is flooded with disinformation and propaganda. We saw it recently during the massacres in the coastal areas. This poses a real risk of escalating violence, as false narratives often fuel division and conflict. It’s a critical moment, yet donors remain hesitant. Syria’s independent media’s survival is threatened—and with it, a central building block for democracy.”
Notes
International Media Support
https://www.mediasupport.org
Verify Syria
https://verify-sy.com
Al-Jumhuriya
https://aljumhuriya.net
Arta FM
https://www.artafm.com
Enab Baladi
https://english.enabbaladi.net
Radio Rozana
https://www.rozana.fm
Statement on press freedom in post-Assad Syria
https://aljumhuriya.net/en/2024/12/16/statement-on-press-freedom-in-post-assad-syria/
