New spin in media war? Syria uncovers TV hijack plot

Published time: July 23, 2012 01:58
Edited time: July 23, 2012 06:02
Syrian refugees watch news about their country on the United Arab Emirates' Orient News channel (AFP Photo / Mustafa Ozer)

Syria has accused Western and Arab intelligence agencies of plotting to “hijack” its satellite channel frequencies in order to spread misinformation about the alleged advances of the rebels, military defections or the fall of certain cities.

­“An Information Ministry source warned that Western intelligence are planning, in cooperation with some Arab parties, to hijack the frequencies of Syrian satellite channels,” state news agency Sana reported on Sunday.

The ministry said its goal would be to broadcast false news on an "alleged coup d'etat" and that for this purpose they could use “Syrian presenters and journalists who work for Arab and Western channels, or who might have been abducted.”

Similar alarms about a new plot against Syria were also broadcast through other official national media sources such as Syria TV, al-Dunia TV, and Sham FM.

It is not the first time Syria's Information Ministry has warned of misleading media reports pretending to be coming from official Syrian TV sources.

On Friday, the ministry announced that a satellite channel was using the logo of the Syrian Satellite Channel and its frequency. The channel was reportedly broadcasting nationalistic songs in an alleged test run before a massive media attack against Syria.

The Information Ministry emphasized that the genuine Syrian channels can be recognized by the presence of well-known presenters and programs.

Earlier Sunday, some satellite channels reported on aerial bombardment of Damascus by government forces, but these reports were denied by the official state media.

Sana's official website was down late Sunday after spreading the ministry's warning.

Comments (22)

Serbian (unregistered) 23.07.2012 18:10

During the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia (now Serbia) in 1999 our satellite TV channel was shut down and our satellite base station bombed in order not to share Belgrade's point of view, as well as war atrocities made by NATO-backed Albanian forces.

Besid es, the main building of our national TV has been bombed while civilian workers were inside, all that without any warning.

Also , the Chinese embassy has been hit and destroyed with several missiles, and NATO has blamed "old maps" for the "mistake"...

Finally, NATO used graphite bombs to destroy high-voltage power lines in the power grid between power plants and cities, so we couldn't keep food in fridges and freezers and had to either eat it quickly or discard it.

How humanitarian, isn't it.

These facts are now forgotten in the world media, but we in Serbia remember very well what happened and how.

+5

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@Don't be silly (unregistered) 23.07.2012 16:21

Well said! However you do realise you are trying to reason with the unreasonable here don't you? You omit to mention how RT will often pick one view, often leftfield and extremist and publish claiming it as news/fact when indeed it is not. It is a common ploy used by RT and swallowed by the gullible. SMJ

0

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Don't be silly (unregistered) 23.07.2012 15:06

African Child (unregistered) wrote in #18
We no longer have true journalism. Read the news and make your own judgements. Afterall the cliche now is for CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, Fox, Skynews, Guardian et all to say 'we cannot independently verify these reports because the government restricts access by foreign journalist'. This comes after you must have spent 30 minutes reading their writeup or watching their broadcast. Thats why we come to RT ...
The difference between the media you list above and RT is that the former are professionalists and know when to say "cannot be independently verified" and when to correct wrong reports. Unlike RT, a state-owned propaganda channel, who make up things and find the right person who would regurgitate their story. Lack of any criticism should not be mistaken with good journalism. 

+1

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