Syria Direct

Syria Direct or Syria:direct, founded in 2013, is a non-governmental organization based in Amman, Jordan, providing news coverage on Syria's war and politics, and giving training to journalists.[1][2] They have been funded by an American organization, the "Global Peace and Development (GPD) Charitable Trust", and by the US State Department.[3][4]

Online news

Syria Direct is published in English and Arabic. The articles are for readers who are already knowledgeable about Syria but want more detailed information.[5] Syria Direct employs about 24 Syrians and Americans who talk to Syrian activists and civilians on both sides of the conflict every day by Skype. Syrian journalists write the stories in Arabic. The stories are translated to English, fact-checked and edited, then translated back to Arabic. Their website receives about 50,000 page views every month. Their Facebook page has 77,000 followers.[2] Thousands of people follow their Twitter account.[6]

Journalism training

Syria Direct also has a training program for journalists from Syria. In the past, the training program has received funding from the US Embassy Amman's Public Affairs Section, the Syria office of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organization, and the Canadian Embassy in Amman.[7] Every six months they train twelve new Syrian journalists. The trainees' stories have been published in USA Today, CNN.com, Radio Free Europe, and international new organizations like Le Monde and The Toronto Globe and Mail.[6] Syria Direct had by September 2016 trained 70 journalists, some of whom have since started their own news organizations.[1]

Editorial staff

Executive Editor Kristen Demilio is a graduate of Columbia University in the US and of Institut Français des Etudes Arabes (French Institute for Arab Studies) in Damascus, Syria, with over 10 years experience in Middle East journalism.[7]

References

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