The conflict in Syria has become the bloodiest, most complex and most journalistically challenging uprising of the Arab Spring. In Egypt, the revolt was in a city with a large AP and international media presence. In Libya, our journalists were able to deploy throughout the country. But in Syria, most reporters have been banned entry by the government. Crossing illegally into rebel territory is perilous.
A Syrian man cries holding the body of his son near Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives, killing at least 34 people and injuring more than 120. The father collapsed after leaving the hospital, cradling his dead son for 30 minutes before a taxi took them away. This photo won a first place award in the Pictures of the Year International competition.
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Mahmoud, a 21-year-old Palestinian resident of Syria, rests in a field hospital after he was found with three gunshot wounds in the town of Anadan on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. Mahmoud said he was the only survivor of a massacre in which he and 10 other men were blindfolded, beaten and sprayed with bullets.
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AP photography from Syria has been raw and heart-wrenching, perhaps none more so that Manu Brabo’s photograph of a Syrian man crying inconsolably while holding his dead son’s body. The photo was awarded a first place in the Pictures of the Year International prizes. Brabo, based in Spain, said the father left the hospital with his son’s body then fell to his knees sobbing. He stayed in the street for more than 30 minutes holding his son until a taxi came to take them away.
AP’s video from Syria has led the competition. But the conflict grows ever more dangerous to cover. Last year, cameraman Ahmed Bahaddou was shot in the shoulder as he faced sniper fire and shelling while recording battles between the military and rebels in Idlib.
Among the journalists covering the conflict in Syria is photographer Rodrigo Abd, whose image of a young boy grieving at his father’s funeral captured in a single moment the impact of the violence on the people of Syria—so much so that it made the front page of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Abd has family roots in Syria, which makes his work in the region even more meaningful to him.
Directing coverage from Lebanon, Beirut Bureau Chief Elizabeth Kennedy has guided AP through difficult journalistic territory. Here she describes how she and her team have navigated hype, hoaxes, lies and spin to assure accurate and fair coverage.