Istanbul, April 29, 2019

The joint meeting that was held in cooperation between the Ethical Charter for Syrian Media and the Syrian Journalists Association in Istanbul with the title (Responsibility in Media: Who’s responsible in front of whom?) was closed on Sunday.

The meeting lasted for two days and discussed the results of some new researches conducted on the evaluation of a sample of the Syrian society of the media material offered to them via different channels and the extent to which the current media performance responds to their needs and reality.

Moreover, the meeting analyzed the situation of the independent Syrian media organizations and discussed what could be done to organize the market of media work and the obstacles that hider it.

In the second day, there was a discussion of the political, economic, legal, social and technical challenges that counter the Syrian media. A SWOT analysis was conducted for understanding strengths and weaknesses, in addition to challenges in order to help suggest solutions in the current circumstances.

Attendants also discussed basics of journalistic accountability and media institutions. They agreed that accountability is a right for recipients that includes mechanisms and tools that enable them to hold the media outlet responsible for committing to its duties. They also agreed to set up an emergency support fund for journalists and on studying launching a profit media project that could guarantee support for the media outlet in the future. There was also an agreement on a time plan for media work and developing performance to achieve the independence of media.

This meeting is one of the activities organized by the ECSM and the SJA with the objective of exchanging opinions on the international challenges of the media profession in order to develop performance and open new horizons for media professionals to benefit and develop.