Diab was shot by government forces while covering clashes between
the rebel Free Syrian Army and Syrian government forces in the neighborhood of
Al-Otaiba, according to the Saudi-based news website Al-Sharq and the Syrian
Center for Human Rights.
Diab, who was known locally as “Abu al-Majid al-Ghoutani,” was a
videographer and reporter, who regularly filmed and reported on clashes in the
Damascus suburb of Al-Ghouta al-Sharqiya. He also contributed reporting to the pro-opposition
TV channel Orient News
and the Free Syrian Army TV channel Suri al-Hur (The Free
Syrian) and was the spokesman for the Media Office of Al-Ghouta
al-Sharqiya, the Marj Branch, according to the Media Office and Shaam News Network.
Similar media centers like the Media Office for Al-Ghouta
al-Sharqiya have sprung up all across Syria as citizen journalists and
opposition activists document how the unrest has affected their communities.
The Media Office’s reporting has been used by local and regional news outlets
including Al-Sharq and Orient News.
The documentation provided by citizen journalists has been crucial
in the international understanding of the Syrian conflict because of extreme
government restrictions and danger that prevent widespread news media coverage,
according to CPJ research.