Syria's media war

"Every picture tells a story" is a lesson the media learned a long time ago. Now, in the age of new media, amateur video footage comes with a string of narratives loaded with political intent.

Nowhere has that been more true than in Syria, where forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have wielded video cameras wherever their comrades have aimed their guns. But judging by footage filmed by the rebels themselves showing their own acts of torture, executions and now cannibalism, it seems that the power of the media may have gone to their heads.

The online battle has also heated up. Over the past weeks, the Syrian Electronic Army has been more active than ever in hacking mainstream media outlets who they say have misled the world with anti-Assad propaganda. The BBC, the Associated Press, the Guardian and, most recently, the Financial Times have all been hit with embarrassing takedowns – often through their Twitter feeds.