The international community is facing challenges in monitoring the ongoing crisis in Syria.
Foreign journalists have little or no access to information inside the country, meaning it is difficult to verify what is fact and what is fiction.
International security expert Robert Ayson says that both sides are giving different interpretations of events.
“I think the same shots are being framed in a different way by both the Assad regime and also supporters of the Free Syrian Army, so it’s very difficult to get a good sense of it in terms of exactly what is happening,” says Mr Ayson.
He says it is important for western media to try and find a balance.
It’s a difficult situation, because I think the media does really want to report things as they are, and quite clearly the Assad regime has been committing acts of wickedness for some time,” he says.
“But by the same token it’s important for the media to report when, for example, the Free Syrian Army and others do commit violence themselves.”
Mr Ayson says that a clear divide is emerging between those who support the Assad regime and those who oppose it.
Watch the video for Firstline’s interview with Professor Robert Ayson