During the decades of Assad family rule in Syria, local media was mobilized to promote regime propaganda, while outlets supporting the opposition often operated outside the country, particularly after the civil war.
The coup in Syria also shook the country’s media landscape, especially channels affiliated with the ousted president, Bashar Assad, who fled the country to Russia. These outlets suddenly found themselves without a regime or directives imposed from above.
Rebels taking control of local media channel
Some channels quickly replaced the old Syrian flag with the opposition’s flag on their social media profiles and continued reporting. Others took longer to process the dramatic developments and resume operations.
This transition is marked by significant fear among journalists who covered the war from the regime’s perspective, as they now face the new government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who’s attempting to reform his public image domestically and abroad.
Freedoms in Syria were severely restricted under the Assads — both Hafez and his son Bashar — including freedom of expression and the press. The regime controlled the media to propagate its messages, limited the entry of foreign journalists, restricted independent newspapers and ceased the publication of printed newspapers entirely by 2020.
Today, Syria ranks second-to-last in Reporters Without Borders' 2024 Press Freedom Index, just ahead of Eritrea.
During the civil war, channels closely aligned with Assad’s regime operated alongside opposition outlets that offered their own narratives about the events in Syria, such as the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The launch of the Syrian rebels’ Operation Deterrence of Aggression, which ultimately led to the toppling of the Assad regime, further intensified the contrast between pro-regime and opposition media.
Opposition outlets reported on the rebels’ progress, the capture of key sites and maps detailing their advances, while pro-regime media focused on portraying the "resilience of the Syrian army" and echoed statements from the Syrian Defense Ministry.
Rebel announcement on live Syrian television
These channels repeatedly warned viewers against “unverified rumors” circulating online, urging them to rely only on official reports. Eventually, these “official” updates ceased altogether, with the Defense Ministry halting announcements on December 7, as the rebels approached Damascus.
In a live broadcast on Syrian state television during these critical moments, one studio speaker paused mid-sentence as the rebels took control of the facility, remarking, "There’s noise and the door is open." Shortly thereafter, the rebels delivered a message to Syria and the entire world: "We’ve won."
On December 8, as the rebels entered Damascus, the official Syrian news agency SANA suspended its reports; Syrian state television displayed the message: "The rebels have won, the Assad regime has fallen," and the pro-regime radio station Sham FM announced that it was ceasing broadcasts due to the situation on December 9.
"Sham FM is temporarily halting its programming and coverage until the general situation stabilizes, enabling us to provide reliable daily news for our people at home and abroad," the station announced after the regime's downfall.
"The station sees itself as a Syrian institution committed to anything that will bring Syria to safety and restore normalcy to people’s lives. For now, we’ll broadcast Fairuz’s songs and plays by the Rahbani brothers."
Despite the temporary halt, Syrian media outlets gradually resumed operations, now reporting on the new leadership. SANA’s Telegram channel updated its logo and resumed activity under the rebels' flag, while Sham FM also returned to broadcasting, aligning its coverage with the new de factor leader’s meetings.
However, despite the gradual return to work under the new flag, journalists who worked for the regime remain fearful for their lives. Syrian journalists who covered the civil war and Assad's regime now express deep concern about the new government.
According to Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, fears stem from the new Syrian administration's decision that anyone who covered the war and served as part of the Assad regime’s propaganda machine — thereby directly or indirectly contributing to its crimes and massacres — will face fair trials under transitional justice.
A Syrian journalist told the Lebanese paper that, for the first time in 14 years, she’s afraid not for herself but for her family, who could be harmed. "My crime is being a journalist and my family’s crime is being related to a journalist," she said.
Another journalist added: "We survived covering battles, but this time it seems our fate is inevitable — death or imprisonment — because of the profession we love and depend on for our livelihood."
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The transitional Syrian government’s Information Ministry recently called on Syrian media professionals who defected from Assad-aligned outlets at the start of the revolution to join the ranks of the "free Syrian media."
In a statement issued last Friday, the ministry invited these individuals to contribute to "building media that reflects the Syrian people's aspirations for freedom and dignity."