Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 3 - 2004 (mainly Iraq)
Iraq's new free media may not survive handover of power by Jack Fairweather 
Iraq's new free media may not survive handover of power By Jack Fairweather in Baghdad (Filed: 03/04/2004) Fears are growing that the flowering of the Iraqi media, which was supposed to set an example for the whole of the Middle East, will be short-lived and cannot last beyond the handover of power at the end of June. Relations between the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority and some local press and television outlets are already strained and observers believe things will get worse. In the past 10 months, the authorities have banned two leading Arab TV news channels and closed down two newspapers. The administration has said it has to put a stop to dangerous and irresponsible journalism among Iraq's hundreds of new media outlets. "In the current security situation, we simply can't have people on television calling us liars, thieves and traitors and offering rewards in heaven if we are shot," said Mahmud Othman, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi Governing Council. But many Iraqi journalists fear the administration's heavy-handedness has set such a poor example that the fledgling media will be the first institution to crumble after America hands over power this summer. "We understand the need to balance freedom of speech with the current security climate but the administration is making a mess of things," said Walid Wehad, bureau chief for al-Arabiya television which, with al-Jazeera, dominates news coverage in the Middle East. He says Iraq's Governing Council, a US-appointed body of Iraqi politicians, has proved hyper-sensitive to criticism. "Their first instinct is to ban and censor when they hear something they don't like," said Mr Wehad, an Iraqi who worked for the state television. In September both stations were banned from covering Iraqi Governing Council events for two weeks after giving publicity to rebel groups urging attacks against Americans which the administration called "incendiary". Miriam al-Attiya, a former radio journalist, also had a run-in with the council. She was banned for life from covering government events after she accused a council member of lying at a press conference. She was later sacked form her job with Radio Sawa, a US-funded Arabic station, only to discover that the brother of the council spokesman had taken her job. "It makes me very sad. I worked for 15 years as a journalist under Saddam but six months of the American occupation and I no longer have a job," she said. The mood was soured by an incident two weeks ago when two al-Arabiya reporters were shot and killed by US troops as they drove away from a checkpoint. The US military said it was shooting at a car that was accelerating towards the checkpoint and the reporters were hit accidentally. Many officials in the CPA admit being dismayed by the administration's approach to journalists and the failure so far to establish an impartial new service. They point to the Iraqi Media Network, the US-funded television channel that is widely regarded as a propaganda vehicle. Hours are given to government announcements and there is limited coverage of the daily violence in Iraq. "It's been a $150 million flop," said one official. A Lebanese television company has been brought in to improve programming and bring a greater independence to the channel. The flagship news programme continues to send its running order to the administration before going on air. This is standard practice for Arab state broadcasters but the irony is that the overthrow of the Saddam dictatorship was supposed to usher in an era of liberty which would set an irresistible example for the rest of the Arab world. |