Control, censorship and ‘penalties’: inside the Assad regime’s propaganda arm

For years reporters at Syria's state news agency had to toe the line. As life in Syria grew harder, so did the their work

After 21 years, the day Farouk feared had finally come. An envelope sealed with red wax made its way through the faded hallways of Syria's national news agency, Sana, and landed on his desk. Inside was what employees called a penalty, the contents of which could range from a reprimand from the editors to a summons to one of Syria's brutal security branches.

I found a mistake before the article was published and I brought it to the editors' attention. I thought this would be a good thing but they punished me," Farouk, a journalist on Sana's foreign news desk, said under a pseudonym.