Aya Homsi is a freelance journalist of Syrian origin who has grown up in Italy. She is co-founder of the Facebook page Vogliamo la Siria libera (We want a free Syria) which recently reached 7,200 members. The group organises protest demonstrations and posts regular updates on the progress of the civil war. In many cases the updates come directly from sources in Syria and are then translated from Arabic into Italian for publication.
What should information professionals do when activists replace journalists in the production of news? The dramatic conflict in Syria is a war fought on two fronts: military and media. The difficult...