Syria Direct facts for kids
Syria Direct or Syria:direct (Arabic: سوريا على طول) is a special news group that started in 2013. It's based in Berlin, Germany. Syria Direct shares news about what's happening in Syria, especially about its politics and the conflict there. They also teach young people how to become journalists.
This group first started in Amman, Jordan. It got money from an American group called the Global Peace and Development (GPD) Charitable Trust. It also received support from the US State Department and different embassies in Amman.
Sharing News Online
Syria Direct publishes its news stories in both English and Arabic. Their articles are for people who want to learn more details about Syria.
A small team of reporters, from Syria and other countries, work for Syria Direct. These reporters talk to people in Syria every day to get their stories. Syrian journalists write the news in both Arabic and English. Since the website is bilingual, all articles are translated, checked for facts, and then published.
Syria Direct is quite popular online! Their Facebook page has over 144,000 followers. Thousands of people also follow their Twitter account to get updates.
Training New Journalists
Syria Direct also has a special program to train new journalists from Syria. This training program has received money from the US Embassy in Amman, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organization, and the Canadian Embassy in Amman.
Every six months, Syria Direct trains twelve new Syrian journalists. These young journalists learn how to report and write news stories. Their work has been published in big news places like USA Today, CNN.com, Radio Free Europe, and other international news groups such as Le Monde and The Toronto Globe and Mail.
By September 2016, Syria Direct had trained 70 journalists. Some of these trained journalists even started their own news groups! By April 2018, they had trained 150 journalists through 10 different training groups. This was possible because of help from the US State Department.
