Basil al-Sayed

Basil al-Sayed (; ca. 1987 – 27 December 2011) of Homs, was a Syrian citizen journalist and videographer working in Homs, Syria during the Syrian civil war and was well known by the news media for his reporting under dangerous conditions and at a time when international media were banned. He was called "The revolution's journalist" by the people of Homs. Ferzat Jarban, the first journalist to be killed, was a freelance television camera operator. Basil al-Sayed was the first citizen journalist to be killed. At the time, foreign journalists were banned from Syria by the Bashar al-Assad government.

Personal Basil Al-Sayed was born to an Alawite family in Syria in 1987. He was a resident of Homs, Syria where he documented the Syrian civil war. He had previously worked as a carpenter. Around the time of his death, al-Sayed was employed at an aluminum factory. He spent his time outside of his job exposing the Syrian government and documenting the civil war. Like many other citizen journalists, he would then post the videos to the internet for the world to witness.

Context In March 2011, the Syrian civil war began. During this time, Syrian officials banned international journalists from their country. This prompted a rise in citizen journalist to document and publish the civil war and turmoil that was occurring. Basil al-Sayed was among that group of citizen journalist. He set himself apart by becoming a videographer and putting himself in dangerous situations.

Impact Foreign journalist had been mostly banned in Syria. The only way the world is able to witness the crisis unfolding in Syria, is via the videos uploaded to YouTube captured by citizen journalists. The first was Ferzat Jarban, who was also killed in Homs around November 20, 2011. al-Sayed, along with others, set the foot work for future citizen journalist to capture the civil war.

Reactions Basil al-Sayed was considered to be a local hero by some and his death saddened and outraged many. He was filming when he was shot and his final minutes were caught on camera. The international journalist community condemned al-Sayed's intentional murder.