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<\/p>\nI was trying to work out what is going on in Syria, and what the implications of rebel victory were, as well as who, exactly, the rebels were in light of media bias.<\/p>\n
I came across this article from an interesting source called EA WorldView<\/a>\u00a0(based in the University of Birmingham, UK). I keep seeing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as a source for pretty much\u00a0every\u00a0<\/i>article out there. This article in EA WorldView acts as a seemingly more accurate balance:<\/p>\n From which this third part is interesting. I suggest reading the whole article for some fascinating synopsis and coverage:<\/p>\n The other big loser last week was the mainstream media, which not only failed to cover the events but turned them into a hyperbolic fiction of \u201cAl Qa\u2019eda\u201d taking control of Idlib.<\/p>\n Few outlets noticed the start of the rebel offensive, an understandable neglect given the lack of sustained coverage to developments on the ground in northern Syria. However, when the media realized that Idlib might fall, the outcome was worse than ignorance.<\/p>\n Rather than assessing the information from the area, almost all of the press turned to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and its packaging of claims on social media as accounts from a \u201cnetwork\u201d of sources inside the country.<\/p>\n The Observatory\u2019s narrative is sometimes accurate, but on other occasions it is a distortion of developments. In this case, it set up such a distortion with its take-away line of an offensive by \u201cAl-Nusra Front and its Islamist allies<\/a><\/strong>\u201c.<\/p>\n That presentation misrepresented the offensive as being led by Jabhat al-Nusra, only one of the groups in the Jaish al-Fatah operations room. Excluding all factions that are not \u201cIslamist\u201d, it ignored any distinction between \u201cIslamic\u201d and \u201cIslamist\u201d groups, overlooked the Free Syrian Army and \u201cindependent\u201d brigades, pushed aside local units, and missed Christian and Druze fighters who participated in the offensive.<\/p>\n But no need for such details. Instead, it was only a small step from the first reports to headlines such as \u201cQaeda\u2019s Syria Wing Battles to Enter Regime-held Idlib<\/a><\/strong>\u201c.<\/p>\n Error upon error followed, with the Observatory further reducing Saturday\u2019s rebel victory to \u201cJabhat al-Nusra have taken control of Idlib city\u201d. The Guardian proclaimed<\/a><\/strong>, \u201cIslamists Seize City in Alawite Heartland for First Time\u201d, a curiosity since there are few Alawites \u2014 the group to which President Assad belongs \u2014 in Idlib. The newspaper subsequently reframed Idlib<\/a><\/strong> as a \u201cstrategically important city\u201d. However, thanks to the Observatory, it assured that the \u201chardline Islamist groups\u201d of Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State \u201cnow control two provinces\u201d.<\/p>\n The faulty narrative, further bolstering the media\u2019s portrayal of Syria as \u201cExtremists vs. Assad\u201d, is now entrenched. The Daily Telegraph converted the story<\/a><\/strong> to \u201cIslamic State v. al-Qa\u2019eda\u201d with \u201cSyrian Militants Jabhat al-Nusra Seize City of Idlib, Giving Al-Qaeda a Rival Capital to Isil\u2019s Raqqa\u201d. Just to make sure no one missed the distorted point, writer Richard Spencer opened:<\/p>\n Little-noticed, al-Qaeda has a new capital.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Even the most reputable of outlets chose illusion over detail. The New York Times continues to feature a photo<\/a><\/strong> with the caption, \u201c[Idlib] was seized last weekend by the Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.\u201d Reuters added to the hyperbole<\/a><\/strong>: it linked \u201cthe Nusra Front and its allies\u201d to the claim from a \u201cSyrian military source\u201d \u2014 unsupported outside regime propaganda \u2014 that Turkey \u201cled and planned the operation\u201d in Idlib.<\/p>\nSyria Special: 5 Lessons from the Rebel Victory \u2014 and Regime Defeat \u2014 in Idlib<\/a><\/h4>\n
3. A DISASTER FOR THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA<\/h3>\n