Third article of the 2013 Information Ministry guidelines stipulated that the purpose of all media outlets was "to enlighten public opinion" in line with the ideological doctrines "of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the policy of the state".
[4] State propaganda machine was primarily used to monopolise information access and indoctrinate the Syrian population in Ba'athist ideology.
More than a third of independent journalists reporting on the war were forced to flee after Assad regime's capture of territories in Southern and Eastern Syria during 2016-2018.
[9][10] During the early years of the Syrian revolution, there was a mass flight of local journalists due to persecution, threats, harassment, torture, executions and kidnappings from Ba'athist and pro-Assad militias.
The only two private daily newspapers covering political topics that have succeeded in staying open are owned by businessmen closely tied to the Ba'athist regime: Baladna and Al-Watan.
[17] Ba'athist Syrian government websites, news agencies and online news services based in or targeted at Syria, several of which launched during the Syrian civil war, include:[17] The public does have access to Western radio stations and satellite TV, and Qatar-based Al Jazeera has become very popular in Syria.
[28] In August 2012, a media centre utilized by foreign reporters in Azaz was targeted by the Syrian Air Force in an airstrike on a civilian area during Ramadan.
[8] With the breakdown of many traditional media outlets during the civil war, much of the current events are reported by individuals on Facebook and Twitter.
While many websites have appeared and publish a pro-opposition alternative to pro-government media, the lack of robust journalistic standards has often benefited the government since correctly denying news reports gives them more credibility.
[35] The constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic guaranteed the right to a free press and freedom of expression, but Syria was under a highly restrictive state of emergency law since the Ba'ath Party came to power in 1964 until 2011.
In April 2009, Syrian Kurdish journalist Faruq Haji Mustafa was arrested by the Ba'athist secret police and has never been heard from again.