Noam Chomsky wrote that the news we receive is decided not by governments but by the people who pay for advertising in our news outlets. It would be impossible to know everything that happens across the world even though we have the resources to gather and report it. Someone somewhere makes a decision about what is important news and what slant is given to that news. Add algorithms to the mix and the perspective of the news you receive is now the one you align yourself with. These truths need to be remembered when we read the news. Our news is inevitably filtered and possibly not the entire story. This is a recipe for polarising our opinions.
Back in March 2025, the Alawites in the Latakia region of Syria armed themselves with the support of Iran and started an insurgency in their region against the interim leadership of Syria. The war was over. The new regime was working for peace for everyone but this group still wanted war. After reporting heavy loss of life, this news quietly sank to obscurity. Yet, in June 2025, BBC radio 4 ran a piece about Alawites who have found refuge in Lebanon because they have lost everything are now in fear of their lives. They wanted our sympathy for their plight. The article was compelling. Their lives are pretty shabby now.
Let us remember, Assad was an Alawite. He drove Syria to the depths of destruction. He did it with the support of his people. Now they have lost. For the Alawites to continue the conflict was to no avail. To forgive and forget is hard though we do need to reconcile our past to move forward and rebuild.
