The walls leading to the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium inside Newhouse 3 were covered with photographs of Syrian people as a series of panel discussion seeking accountability and the role of media in reporting the Syrian conflict took place Thursday.

The “Running for Cover: Politics, Justice and Media in the Syrian Conflict” — a daylong presentation organized by the Newhouse Center for Global Engagement of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications — discussed accountability in the Syrian conflict. It brought scholars, legislators, civil liberties advocates, reporters and the general public into the conversation.

The event began at 9 a.m. with an introduction from Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham and Ken Harper, director of the Newhouse Center for Global Engagement. In the opening address, Branham expressed hope that the presentations would “create better understanding and empathy” for the Syrian people.

The Syrian conflict is a civil war between supporters of the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and a number of rebel groups fighting for civil liberties. In the United States, the Syrian conflict gained notoriety in August 2013 when chemical weapons were used in Syria. This was the first time chemical warfare had been used in 25 years. President Barack Obama criticized the use of chemical weapons and said that it crossed a line.

During these power struggles, the Islamic State seized land in eastern Syria, making both Assad’s troops and rebel forces face a new foe.

The first panel, The Geopolitical Situation in Syria, discussed the history of the Syrian conflict, addressing the world’s response to warfare, politics and aid both in the past and today and how other countries affect Syria.

Branham asked the panelists what role the United States has in reaching a solution in Syria and whether the country remains a player.

“At this point, we are going to have to wait for the next president,” said William Banks, the founding director of the Institutes for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University’s College of Law. “From there, various steps can be taken.”

Sherine Tadros, the facilitator and the representative and head of New York (UN) office for Amnesty International, said one solution would be implementing a no-fly zone.

“At the end of the day, it sounds really good to write that we should ground all of our flights, so then nobody bombs Syria, but you have to enforce that,” Tadros said. “There is a theory that you have to escalate this conflict to de-escalate it, but many people will die if a no-fly zone is imposed.”

The panel invited two volunteers from the audience throughout the hour-and-15-minute presentation to join them in a couple open seats. The people chosen asked questions and steered the conversation. To increase engagement, a few questions were also taken from the audience.

The other presentations focused on responsibility for cruel actions, the role social media plays in reporting war and what has to be done in the future.

Presentations were designed as “fish bowl” discussions and the audience was seated in a horseshoe shape around the panelists, who were on a raised platform. The audience was not just limited to those present in person. All of the panels were live streamed and would later be translated to Arabic. Another way to engage in the conversation was through Twitter with the hashtag: #SUSyria.

The Newhouse Center for Global Engagement encouraged participants to create anonymous Twitter accounts and download prior to the event. Being anonymous on social media provides more secure personal protection and a greater chance of people speaking their minds. Its website warned there are still risks in participating via social media especially if they are joining from the conflict region.

Another panel focused on the media’s role in Syria. The panelists gave advice to future journalists in the room to always be informed, stay focused, remain humble, proofread constantly and remember what one’s end goal is.

Hub Brown, the facilitator and associate dean for research, creativity, international initiatives and diversity for Newhouse, asked why media has not been helpful in reporting foreign news.

Tadros responded she had thought she was doing a good job when reporting the story about a widowed woman from Turkey, humanizing the scenario for her audience. She said as she talked to leaders and saw it from the other side, she realized that she portrayed these people as too desperate, as having nothing to offer to their countries.

The speakers agreed, however, that a refugee should be the first person a journalist should speak to, so the interviewer develops his or her own theory, despite what the government says. When reporting during war, it will not only put the interviewer in danger, but the people they are reporting on as well.

Speaking about these issues and more, the panelists sought to create an open dialogue that would increase accessibility and raise accountability regarding the Syrian Conflict.

“I really think it opened up my eyes to the complexity of the situation and so many different way of looking at what is going on in Syria,” said Tula Goenka, a television, radio and film professor in Newhouse. “It is a very complicated situation, and I think the tendency for many people is to just focus on the refugees and the people fleeing without really talking about why they are fleeing and what is the solution — if there is a solution in the long term.”

Published on October 6, 2016 at 7:15 pm