University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Other Publications from the Center for Global Center for Global Communication Studies Communication Studies (CGCS) 3-2012 Deciphering User-Generated Content in Transitional Societies: A Syria Coverage Case Study Juliette Harkin Kevin Anderson Libby Morgan University of Pennsylvania Briar Smith University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/cgcs_publications Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, and the International and Area Studies Commons Recommended Citation Harkin, Juliette; Anderson, Kevin; Morgan, Libby; and Smith, Briar. (2012). Deciphering User-Generated Content in Transitional Societies: A Syria Coverage Case Study. Other Publications from the Center for Global Communication Studies. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/cgcs_publications/20 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgcs_publications/20 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Deciphering User-Generated Content in Transitional Societies: A Syria Coverage Case Study Abstract Social media and user-generated content (UGC) — photos and videos taken by members of the public — played an important role in coverage of the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, but, this was chiefly supplementary to traditional newsgathering for covering those revolutions. However in Syria with the tight control on foreign media denying access for foreign journalists, especially in the early months of the uprising, news organizations had to rely almost exclusively on this UGC via social media and their own UGC intake platforms. Much of the UGC used by news outlets is fielded by Syrian activists both inside Syria and based overseas who are in contact with Syrian demonstrators and planners.