Syria’s age of misinformation?

The more I see,
The more I know;
The more I know,
The less I understand…

‘The Changingman,’ Paul Weller, Stanley Road, 1993

I really do not understand the world around me!

An age of media overabundance

This comforting certainty, however, came to an unceremonious end, with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the initiation of a timid economic reform process in Syria. The 1990s heralded the end of our one-track media ‘comfort zone.’ All of a sudden, we had satellite receivers mushrooming over buildings in Damascus (and later, all over the country), feeding the increasing hunger of a population awoken to the miracle of alternative information. People deserted local media en masse—viewer and readership rates of Syrian media have, as of the mid 1990s, deteriorated (and stabilized). Now, people turn to modern, news sources, such al-Jazeera or al-Arabiya; whose ubiquitous camera crews and reporters, and slickly produced news have infiltrated our conscience. But Pan-Arab TV News was not the only novelty. The advent of the new millennium, also brought about a revolution in printed media. The new Publication Law overturned a 40-something year monopolization of printed media by the government and allowed, for the first time under the Baath, the issuance of independent print. This added a plethora of names to the circulation of newspapers and magazines—dailies, weeklies, and monthlies; in Arabic and English. Passing by one of the many newsstands in any major Syrian city, you will find an astonishing variety of such printed media, leaping towards you with colored, glossy print, catchy graphics and loud headlines. New privately-owned radio stations, as well as satellite channels have all added to the wealth of media existing on the once docile Syrian media scene. Add to that the brushire of the Internet, with its superfluity of news and media websites, blogs, and other information sources. Now, Internet-savvy Syrians (an exponentially-growing segment) have the choice of clicking their mouse, and beaming the latest images, live updates, or real-time news—the intermittent, and at times, scandalously frustrating internet connection notwithstanding; in addition to an overabundance of opinions, analyses, and varied—even conflicting—commentary. Information, news, and opinion has become ubiquitous.

Whatever Syrians want to know, they now can.

Too much information?

So after years of wandering a media wasteland, I as a Syrian now have more than ample sources to choose for my information about everything and anything I need to know about. But, do I understand the world around me any better? Am I better informed? Voltaire—complaining about the quality of what people were reading in the 18th Century—once wrote that “This multitude of books is making us ignorant.” I cannot help but feel the same. This multitude of information that is available has become so detailed, so intricate, so complex; that it has become more and more difficult to quarry the truth out of the tons of techno-babble that covers it. From the most mundane and personal everyday affairs to the most politically-sensitive issues on the national level; we know the small details, but we are unable to connect the dots and draw the bigger picture. Today’s media is so competitive, so fast-paced, that it no longer allows it- (or ourselves) to discern the truth—it merely wants to ‘report the facts.’ And really quickly. This applies to international, as well as to the local media—a media so concerned with arriving there first, reporting it quicker, and scoring a scoop; even if that leaves us, the public, more stupefied and less truly informed. This has a lot to do with the nature of our day and age—a fast paced, competitive world, with an increasing accentuation on information as a source of power. The more you know, and the quicker you know it; the more able you are to take advantage, and beat the competition. A dog-eat-dog logic, for a dog-eat-dog world. It also has to do with the Darwinian, bottom-line-oriented news media—a media that is now more concerned in getting advertising dollars, that they are dumping down the news, and concentrating only on making it a better eye-candy. We have become so engrossed in the game of information-fetish, to the extent that we have forgotten why we started it, in the first place. We need to know, because we need to understand. I ‘know’ so many things today, perhaps too many things. But I am understanding less and less. For example, we all ‘know’ that the government has embarked on a belated and protracted economic reform. We ‘know,’ because we read and heard about it. But we cannot see it or touch it—and, worse, we do not really ‘understand’ it. We do not really ‘understand’ why it is taking so long for it to happen, or why we cannot see tangible results—in our lifetime. We ‘know’ that we now have private banks, and a property development craze; yet we do not ‘understand’ why receiving credit or buying a house is still out of reach for the great majority of people. And the list of things we do ‘know’—but do not ‘understand’—goes on. The news-making media, especially in Syria, because it is in its formative period, has a great responsibility of informing the public—not confounding it with heaps of half-baked data. However, this media glut has also shifted a large part of the responsibility from the people creating the news to the people receiving the news—the public. You. Me. It is up to us to filter the mass of information thrown at us at breakneck speed, and sorting through it to find the meaning—to truly ‘understand.’