Journalists should ‘swear allegiance as subjects of ISIS’
9 Oct 2014 6:41 AM IST
Anyone violating the guidelines, which specify which media outlets can be worked with, demand pre-approval of all stories and the control of personal social media accounts, is threatened with ‘being held accountable’. The vast majority of foreign journalists have already fled. Many journalists fled when the controls were announced, website Syria Deeply reported, but others chose to stay and obey them.
Amer, a journalist in Deir Ezzor, told the website he took the risk to continue documenting events, feeling someone had to report what was happening to the world.An Isis press office has been set up to control media, he said, and the following non-negotiable list of conditions was issued at a meeting.
ISIS RULES FOR JOURNALISTS
1 - Correspondents must swear allegiance to the Caliph [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi ... they are subjects of the Islamic State and, as subjects, they are obliged to swear loyalty to their imam.
2 - Their work will be under the exclusive supervision of the Isis media offices.
3 - Journalists can work directly with international news agencies (such as Reuters, AFP and AP), but
they are to avoid all international and local satellite TV channels. They are forbidden to provide any exclusive material or have any contact (sound or image) with them in any capacity.
4 - Journalists are forbidden to work in any way with the TV channels placed on the blacklist of channels that fight against Islamic countries (such as Al-Arabiya, Al Jazeera and Orient). Violators will be held accountable.
5 - Journalists are allowed to cover events in the governorate with either written or still images without having to refer back to the Isis media office. All published pieces and photos must carry the journalist’s and photographer’s names.
6 - Journalists are not allowed to publish any reportage (print or broadcast) without referring to the Isis media office first.
7 - Journalists may have their own social media accounts and blogs to disseminate news and pictures. However, the Isis media office must have the addresses and name handles of these accounts and pages.
8 - Journalists must abide by the regulations when taking photos within Isis territory and avoid filming locations where taking pictures is prohibited.
9 - Isis media offices will follow up on the work of local journalists within Isis territory and in the state media.
10 - The rules are not final and are subject to change at any time depending on the degree of cooperation between journalists and their commitment to their brothers in the Isis media offices.
Amer, a journalist in Deir Ezzor, told the website he took the risk to continue documenting events, feeling someone had to report what was happening to the world.An Isis press office has been set up to control media, he said, and the following non-negotiable list of conditions was issued at a meeting.
ISIS RULES FOR JOURNALISTS
1 - Correspondents must swear allegiance to the Caliph [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi ... they are subjects of the Islamic State and, as subjects, they are obliged to swear loyalty to their imam.
2 - Their work will be under the exclusive supervision of the Isis media offices.
3 - Journalists can work directly with international news agencies (such as Reuters, AFP and AP), but
they are to avoid all international and local satellite TV channels. They are forbidden to provide any exclusive material or have any contact (sound or image) with them in any capacity.
4 - Journalists are forbidden to work in any way with the TV channels placed on the blacklist of channels that fight against Islamic countries (such as Al-Arabiya, Al Jazeera and Orient). Violators will be held accountable.
5 - Journalists are allowed to cover events in the governorate with either written or still images without having to refer back to the Isis media office. All published pieces and photos must carry the journalist’s and photographer’s names.
6 - Journalists are not allowed to publish any reportage (print or broadcast) without referring to the Isis media office first.
7 - Journalists may have their own social media accounts and blogs to disseminate news and pictures. However, the Isis media office must have the addresses and name handles of these accounts and pages.
8 - Journalists must abide by the regulations when taking photos within Isis territory and avoid filming locations where taking pictures is prohibited.
9 - Isis media offices will follow up on the work of local journalists within Isis territory and in the state media.
10 - The rules are not final and are subject to change at any time depending on the degree of cooperation between journalists and their commitment to their brothers in the Isis media offices.
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