The Guardian's Martin Chulov Discusses Reporting on Syria

With Syria grabbing all the news attention, and journalists being virtually barred from entering the country, how can we decipher fact from propaganda? There is no shortage of information and analysis about what is unfolding in Syria. With foreign journalists shut out, much of the news comes from citizen journalists' accounts, YouTube videos sent to media channels or websites in addition to various official narratives from governments across the world, in favor or against the Syrian regime. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), since November, at least nine local and international journalists have been killed in Syria. Syrians who communicate with foreign news media from within Syria run the risk of being detained, tortured, or even killed. Martin Chulov, who covers the Middle East for The Guardian of London, says that as a correspondent, he has an additional role in Syria because the Syrian regime does its best to keep journalists away in order to shape the narrative unchallenged. Malihe Razazan spoke with Martin Chulov about the difficulties of covering Syria, his concerns, and what stories he wants to tell about an uprising, that is morphing into a civil war. Also, a conversation with Algerian born poet Amine Khan, about his latest book—and his first to be translated into English: “Vision of the Return.”