Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Murrell, Colleen
2018
September
Media, War and Conflict
The global television news agencies and their handling of user generated content video from Syria
Published
()
Optional Fields
activist video, digital media, global news agencies, ISIS, social media, Syria, terrorism, user generated content (UGC), verification, YouTube channels
11
3
289
308
This article examines the role that the global television news agencies play in the handling of user generated content (UGC) video from Syria. In the almost complete absence of independent journalists, Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse are sourcing citizen videos from YouTube channels and passing it on to their clients. This article examines the verification processes that the agencies undertake to check on the veracity of this material and asks whether the agencies have abandoned independent journalism to activists. This article provides a comparative analysis of two months’ worth of UGC videos from Syria that were broadcast by the global news agencies after Russia joined the bombing campaign in Syria in late 2015. It analyses the content, verification processes and information that the agencies give their clients about this material. Through interviews with senior editors from the three organisations, questions of certainty versus probability are explored, along with ethical arguments about propaganda versus information transparency. The global news agencies are the engine drivers of international news coverage and their decisions and interpretation feed directly into the media ecology of mainstream and then alternative media.
Great Britain
1461-670X
Vol 11, 3
https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635217704224
Grant Details