%0 Journal Article
%T Social Media as the Tools of Grassroot Para-News Agencies in Syria. Ghouta Media
	Center Case Study
%A Całek, Agnieszka
%J Media Research Issues
%V 2019
%R 10.4467/22996362PZ.19.036.10738
%N Volume 62, Issue 3 (239)
%P 25-38
%K social media, conflict in Syria, media para-news agency, Ghouta Media Center, GMC, information channels
%@ 0555-0025
%D 2019
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/zeszyty-prasoznawcze/article/media-spolecznosciowe-jako-narzedzia-oddolnych-paraagencji-informacyjnych-w-syrii-przypadek-ghouta-media-center
%X 
	The Ghouta Media Center is a non-institutional group of volunteers, which reports about the situation in Eastern Ghouta in Syria. Their activity differs from the manner in which the professional media work, hence these types of groups have been defined as para-news agencies. The aim of this article is to present the way in which para-news agencies function and their significance within the media system. The specifics of this phenomenon in a broader context of the situation in Syria and the information channels about the events in this region are described using the GMC as an example. In this case study nethnographic methods and additionally Google search tools were used. The result of this research is a profile of the GMC as a para-news agency, its communication channels and the manner in which it disseminates its information among the professional media.