Rebuilding Iraq's Media

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Rebuilding Iraq's Media

Hassan Hadi, a Muslim cleric and = would-be=20 director of television and radio for the Islamic Information = Network, sat=20 in his Baghdad office and fumed. It was late May, and six weeks = earlier=20 the U.S. military had freed Iraq of Saddam Hussein's tyranny, = allowing=20 Hadi to freely practice his Shiite faith, speak his mind, and even = launch=20 a newspaper called Voice of Friday. But now he railed against the=20 Americans who had taken over the Iraqi capital's television and = radio=20 facilities and begun broadcasting.

A petition signed by former television employees authorized = Hadi to=20 speak in their name, and thus the Americans, he said, were defying = the=20 will of the Iraqi people. The Hawza, a famed Shiite seminary run = by=20 ayatollahs in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf, had granted Hadi = authority=20 over Baghdad's airwaves, and thus the Americans were also defying = the will=20 of God. "In America there is freedom of everything," says the=20 white-turbaned cleric. "Press, food, drink, dancing, and even sex. = The=20 Iraqi people are a Muslim people, and such things are not = acceptable here.=20 The media is just like food. You have to clean it and make sure = there's no=20 poison before you distribute it."

"Now we can see a thousands flowers = blooming,"=20 said Antti Kuusi. "But it won't last, because no media here is = able to=20 function profitably."

Across town, behind razor-wire-shrouded checkpoints manned by=20 peach-faced American soldiers, a group of Iraqi journalists and = American=20 advisers assembled news segments for the Iraqi Media Network = (IMN), the=20 U.S.-backed reincarnation of the country's hated =97 and now = dissolved,=20 bombed, looted, and torched =97 Ministry of Information. They have = their own=20 dream for the Iraqi media: a freewheeling cross between the BBC = and PBS.=20 "The vision is to provide the Iraqi people with a European = broadcasting=20 system model," says Mike Furlong, a senior adviser to the U.S. = media=20 reconstruction effort.

IMN employees =97 many of whom are former low-level information = ministry=20 employees who now wear U.S. Defense Department badges =97 use the = makeshift=20 broadcast equipment in the dilapidated Baghdad Convention Center = to put=20 together reports about mass graves, freed prisoners, electricity=20 shortages, and even a few stories critical of the pace and style = of the=20 American reconstruction effort.

Their boss in Baghdad, Ahmad al Rikabi, a thirty-three-year-old = Iraqi=20 who was raised in Sweden, says he's keen on teaching his employees = the=20 rules of balanced journalism. "Trying to create a free media based = on the=20 experience of the journalists in the last thirty years is almost=20 impossible, so you have to change the mentality," says al Rikabi, = a former=20 London bureau chief of Radio Free Iraq. "We don't serve the=20 government."

Time will tell whether the U.S. advisers =97 working with = like-minded=20 Iraqis =97 can create an Iraqi Jim Lehrer without provoking the = country's=20 traditionalists and Islamists. The Islamists, in turn, are joined = in their=20 battle for Iraq's airwaves by Iran's ubiquitous, anti-American = television=20 and radio broadcasts. The Iranian broadcasts =97 often the only = television=20 available to Iraqis =97 mix poetry, music, and language classes = with news=20 reports about the "Zionist entity" and experts urging Iraqis to = ignore the=20 U.S. and take control of the government.

What the Americans hope to create is unprecedented in = authoritarian=20 Arab countries like Iraq, says Massoud Derhally, an editor of = Arabian=20 Business, a Dubai-based monthly magazine. "In Arab countries, you = have=20 media that toe the line," he says. And it may also be unrealistic = to=20 expect the Iraqi media to be a carbon copy of the U.S. press. But = in=20 between the efforts of the Americans on one end of the scale and = the=20 Iranians on the other, a new and unexpected media force has = emerged from=20 the rubble of Iraq. By late May, nearly 100 new publications and a = handful=20 of broadcast outlets were available in Baghdad, with others = launching in=20 major Iraqi cities such as Kirkuk, Mosul, and Basra. They are = communist,=20 monarchist, Kurdish, Assyrian, Islamist, nationalist, and = secularist. Some=20 are shrill and tawdry, like London tabloids. Others are staid and = dry,=20 like a New York broadsheet. But they are Iraqi.

And what their editors and reporters say about their visions = for a=20 post-Saddam media challenges the assumptions of both Iraq's = foreign=20 administrators as well as its domestic guardians of virtue.

Iraqis like to say that they gave = mankind=20 the written word 5,000 years ago. Iraqi journalists boast that the = first=20 Arabic newspaper, Al Zawra, was printed in Baghdad 135 years ago, = and that=20 the nation's first television station was launched in 1956, the = same year=20 that TV came to Sweden. Spirited, mostly politically partisan = papers=20 flourished until the late 1960s. Iraqis continue to pride = themselves on=20 their appetite for the printed word. "What is written in Cairo is=20 published in Beirut but read in Baghdad," the saying goes.

All this ended in the violent coup d'=E9tat of July 17,1968, = that ushered=20 in the era of Hussein's Baath Party. One of the Baathists' first = acts was=20 to jail Abdel Aziz Barakat, then head of the journalists' union, = and shut=20 down his newspaper, al Manar, which at the time was one of the = most=20 professional dailies in Iraq. Barakat was charged as an American = spy and=20 executed a month later.

Baathists placed a stranglehold on the press, turning it into a = tool to=20 glorify Saddam and his family. Underground or independent media = were=20 unheard of. Decree number 840, which Saddam signed in 1986, made = death the=20 maximum penalty for criticizing the government. Even carrying = copies of=20 unofficial newspapers posed a huge risk. In 2001, Kurdish = officials say, a=20 man was caught in the city of Khaneqin with a copy of al Ittihad, = one of=20 the newspapers published in the Kurdish-run northern section of = Iraq. He=20 was sentenced to twenty-one years in jail.

Tales from Saddam's prisons filled the nightmares of fearful=20 journalists. The names of disappeared journalists went unspoken. = Theraqem=20 Hashem, a writer for Horass al Waqtan magazine, was arrested in = 1992 and=20 never heard from again. Aziz al Sayed Jassem, who wrote political = books,=20 was arrested in 1991 and disappeared after he refused to write a = book=20 extolling Saddam's glories. That same year Durgham Hashemi, a = young=20 journalist at al Thawra, disappeared a week after he criticized = articles=20 in his own newspaper that claimed Iraq's Shiite Arabs came from = India. As=20 many as 500 Iraqi journalists, artists, writers, and intellectuals = have=20 been executed or disappeared and are presumed dead since 1968, = according=20 to the International Alliance for Justice, a French human rights = group.=20

But Saddam's grip on the media = wasn't=20 airtight. Though heavily infiltrated by the intelligence services, = for=20 example, the faculty of the University of Baghdad's College of = Mass Media=20 tried to teach their students the fundamentals of good reporting. = "When I=20 taught I would give the academic view," says Mo'ayed al Khafaf, a = lecturer=20 at the college. "How to write news, how to write a column, how to = conduct=20 an investigation. We taught students that they had to be brave, = tell the=20 truth, and be accurate." The problem, al Khafaf says, wasn't what = students=20 studied, but rather that the Ministry of Information controlled = everything=20 they wrote.

Even Iraq's American administrators are impressed with the = skills of=20 Iraq's journalists. "There are a lot of talented young people who = just=20 need some training, some highly technically competent people," = says Mike=20 Furlong.

In 1992, Saddam's oldest son, Uday =97 by all accounts, a = brutal man who=20 treated his pet lions far better than his many underlings =97 was=20 "unanimously" elected head of the journalists' union and launched = a number=20 of purportedly independent publications, television stations, and = radio=20 operations. These allowed Saddam and Uday to attack their = opponents=20 without the formal imprimatur of the state-owned media. They also = allowed=20 the government to expand its system of rewards for sycophantic=20 journalists. One broadcaster, for instance, received $2,500 and a = Honda=20 for his on-air call for the reelection of Saddam Hussein, says = Khalil=20 Ibrahim, a reporter for Fajr Baghdad.

But some of the journalists on Uday's payroll =97 many were = graduates of=20 the College of Mass Media =97 took the independent label = seriously.

In 1997 Nab al Shabab, the Uday-controlled weekly paper of the = Youth=20 Union, began publishing articles that were unprecedented both in = terms of=20 their subject matter and as examples of journalists trying hard to = retain=20 their integrity in the harshest environment. "We criticized the=20 government's behavior," says Mohamed Bedewi al Shamari, a former = Nab al=20 Shabab writer who is now an editor for Ashiraa, a new, = 5,000-circulation=20 weekly. "We criticized the checkpoints, the limited freedoms of = the=20 people, the actions of the Baathist security officers. We called = on the=20 government to respect the people's rights." Al Shamari and others = who=20 worked at these "independent" publications say they were able to = get away=20 with such criticism, ironically, because of the twisted reality of = life=20 under Saddam. Because they were known as Uday's publications, = others in=20 the regime mostly left them alone. And although Uday was a despot = in his=20 own right, he was also a bit of a loose cannon, these journalists = say, and=20 he argued with his father over what the papers wrote. Still, = journalists=20 did not dare criticize Saddam Hussein directly.

Instead, they pecked around him. One article in 1998 by Hashem = Hassan,=20 Nab al Shabab's editor, accused Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz = of=20 wasting his time and the country's money on foreign trips and = speeches.=20 Others chronicled the growing prostitution and crime problems. "We = always=20 went out in the streets and reported these stories out," says Saad = al=20 Awsi, a former news director of Nab al Shabab.

But in March 1998 the newspaper pushed too far, publishing a = satirical=20 front-page piece about Iraqi opposition groups. The headline, = announcement=20 #1, typically heralds a coming change in government. The piece = included=20 photos of opposition figures, such as Ahmad Chalabi.

Saddam cracked down. The paper's staff was pushed out. Al Awsi = was=20 banned from writing. Al Shamari managed a job at Musawar al Arabi, = another=20 Uday-owned weekly, and began writing an opinion column that = touched upon=20 the same themes. In September 1998, two men in an unmarked car = came to his=20 office and took al Shamari away. He was jailed for eight days = without=20 charges. "They didn't even take down my name," al Shamari says. = "They were=20 trying to send a message."

Hashem Hassan was briefly jailed, too, and eventually fled to = the=20 autonomous Kurdish north early last year, where freedom from = Saddam's rule=20 since 1991 has ushered in a relatively free press, including = several=20 newspapers completely independent of political parties.

Over time, many Iraqi journalists fled Saddam's rule and found = success=20 in other countries. And today's media bloom springs in part from = these=20 long-dormant seeds of press freedom planted years earlier.

The media universe in Iraq these = days is=20 populated by everything from Islamists to exiled media tycoons to = local=20 politicians to collectives run by idealistic journalists. = Regardless of=20 their ultimate goal, though, all are far more likely to look for = guidance=20 to the wider Arab world, or to their own traditions, than to = America and=20 the West.

The London-based Azzaman, run by an exiled Iraqi journalist, = began=20 planning to publish an Iraq edition months before Saddam's fall. = The=20 full-color, twenty-page daily, carrying international and local = news as=20 well as celebrity gossip and sports, has wowed Baghdad. Filled = with news=20 from around the world and the Middle East, the mildly = Arab-nationalist=20 paper often publishes articles skeptical of U.S. aims in Iraq and = the=20 region. And it's the hottest paper in town, with a circulation = that Hathem=20 Aziza, Azzaman's general manager, claims has grown to 30,000. He = hopes to=20 reach 50,000 by summer's end, and 100,000 by the end of the year. = Editions=20 of Azzaman are also published in London, Bahrain, and Algeria.

Just days after the regime fell, volunteers in the city of = Karbala,=20 southwest of Baghdad, took over an abandoned 100-watt television=20 substation and began broadcasting over a range of about twelve = miles.=20 Karbala TV mixes Koranic verses with pirated satellite news = broadcasts,=20 cartoons, and local news segments about the city's electrical and = water=20 problems, put together by volunteers using handheld camcorders. = Announcers=20 sit in a scruffy "studio:" a desk and chair in front of a black = backdrop.=20 A committee of locals runs the station, making programming = decisions by=20 consensus. "It's a free, independent television station," says = Haydar=20 Noori, an electrical engineer who spends his spare time as a = technician.=20 "We don't receive any support from anyone."

Meanwhile, Najaf TV broadcasts eight hours a day from a tiny=20 one-kilowatt substation once used to strengthen Baghdad = broadcasts. "We=20 cover all of Najaf's problems, the city council elections, the gas = shortage," says Ali Abdul Kareem Kashaf al Qeta, the volunteer = station=20 manager who fled Iraq after he launched Radio Najaf during the = Shiite=20 uprising against Saddam that was brutally crushed in 1991. "We = found out=20 early that the problem of water was connected to the electricity = problem,"=20 he says. "We broadcast images of the destroyed power stations and = got=20 people to fix the problem. Now the water is back."

New newspapers include Al Riazy al Jadeed, a sports weekly, and = the=20 Baghdad Bulletin, an English-language bimonthly launched by = American=20 college students studying in Lebanon. The twice-weekly Al Ahrar = was=20 launched with $10,000 by a thirty-six-year-old candy merchant. The = twice-weekly Asaa, with a print run of 10,000, is overseen by = Adeeb=20 Shabaan, Uday's longtime personal secretary, who had a falling-out = with=20 him and was imprisoned in the last months of the regime.

The new publications mostly crib reports from the wires as well = as=20 major international and Arabic newspapers. Some of them, though = not all,=20 are little more than mouthpieces for political parties and groups = that=20 have sprung up. The free, eight-page Communist party paper was = among the=20 first to hit Baghdad's streets after Saddam's fall. "It appears = the=20 political press is getting in first and gaining advantage," says = Mark=20 Pomar, president of IREX, a Washington-based group that has helped = train=20 independent media in Eastern Europe and Asia.

The new press remains obsessed with the Saddam era and haunted = by his=20 Baath party's thirty-five-year rule. Articles about his misdeeds = and mass=20 graves fill the pages. The papers pump out salacious stories about = Saddam=20 and his family's troubles and exploits, making them sound like = characters=20 in Dynasty rather than fearsome dictators. qusay grabbed $1 = billion and 70=20 billion euros before the war, screamed a headline in Al Adala, a = new daily=20 published by the pro-Iranian Supreme Council for the Islamic = Revolution in=20 Iraq. uday and his mother killed man who introduced him to = saddam's second=20 wife, said Al Shams, a new weekly. uday offered $1.5 million to = fire=20 editor in chief of jordanian newspaper, said Al Sumer, a highbrow = daily=20 published by the Iraqi Media Network. after three years of a = secret=20 relationship, woman married saddam after he forced her to divorce = her=20 husband, reported Al Resalah, a religious weekly.

The new press also hasn't been shy about publishing negative = articles=20 on the motives and methods of the American invasion force, which = now=20 numbers nearly 160,000. u.s. and europeans race to win iraq mobile = phone=20 contracts, reported Al Ayam. security has become a dream that will = never=20 come true, read a headline in al Adala, over an article declaring = that=20 Iraq will never have true safety until the Americans leave and a = national=20 government takes over. under america's watch, raping, killing, = burning and=20 looting, said Al Ahrar.

Despite all the freedom, criticism of the influence and methods = of=20 Iraq's religious leaders is still off limits. Many journalists say = Iraq=20 remains at heart a traditional, religious country. "We don't have = to=20 criticize sacred values, especially in the beginning," says Hamid = Ali=20 Alkifaey, a former Iraqi exile journalist.

If the press has refrained from critiquing the political power = of the=20 Islamic hierarchy, it has enthusiastically published photographs = of=20 scantily clad women that would offend Islamists' cultural = sensitivities.=20 Back pages are filled with celebrity gossip and chatter from the = Arab=20 world as well as Hollywood. who will be miss universe? asked a = headline in=20 Alahali, a new weekly, above a picture of a former Panamanian = beauty=20 queen, Justine Pasek, wearing a see-through blouse. egyptian = actress=20 chosen to portray saddam's girlfriend in upcoming movie, declared = a=20 headline on the back page of Azzaman.

The media explosion will likely = abate unless=20 the Iraqi economy =97 eroded by twelve years of sanctions and then = knocked=20 flat by the war =97 quickly picks up and generates advertising = revenue, say=20 experts at nonprofit organizations who've rebuilt media in other = war-torn=20 countries. "Now we can see a thousands flowers blooming," said = Antti Kuusi=20 of the Baltic Media Centre, a Denmark-based organization. "But it = won't=20 last, because no media here is able to function profitably."

In addition to money, the newspapers need a legal framework in = which to=20 operate. In early June, Iraqi opposition figures and = journalist-rights=20 activists gathered in Athens for a forum on an Iraqi media law. = "We want=20 to have an independent media," says Hamid Ali Alkifaey, one of the = conference's organizers. "And you can't have new media without a = new media=20 law that clearly defines the relationship between the press and = the=20 government."

Meanwhile, the U.S. authorities in Baghdad were drafting a = media "code=20 of conduct" =97 including the licensing of broadcast outlets and a = possible=20 regulatory board to monitor media. This elicited howls of protest = from=20 Iraqi journalists, who called it censorship. At press time, = details of the=20 code =97 as well as its ultimate fate =97 were not available. But = the idea,=20 say U.S. officials, is to prevent hate speech or ideas that hinder = the=20 development of a civil society. "There's no room for hateful = messages that=20 will destabilize the emerging Iraqi democracy," says Mike = Furlong.

In addition to the Americans, a handful of international = organizations=20 have mobilized to help Iraqi journalists. In late April and early = May,=20 representatives from media charities and liberal publications such = as The=20 Nation and Salon met in London to coordinate efforts to rebuild = Iraq's=20 media, says Rohan Jayasekera, a veteran of reconstruction efforts = in=20 Afghanistan, the Balkans, Sri Lanka, Georgia, and Cyprus. "Of all = these=20 countries, Iraq has the resources to rebuild its media in the long = run,"=20 says Jayasekera. "You have money, education, political = participation. You=20 add all that together and it's a great growing environment for=20 independent, professional media."

For now, though, most Iraqi journalists have put aside worries = about=20 long-term survival as they dive joyfully into new freedoms and = reconnect=20 to their nation's literary past. After graduating from journalism = school,=20 Ashtar Ali Yasseri, twenty-five, wrote for al Zawra, a mouthpiece = for=20 Uday's journalists' union. After the fall of Saddam, she and her = father=20 relaunched Habezbooz, a satirical Baghdad paper last published in = 1932.=20 One early issue of the illustrated weekly included a mock = interview with=20 Jay Garner, then the Pentagon's top man in Iraq, in which he = describes his=20 love of Mosul's kabobs. "This is the best time for this kind of=20 newspaper," says Ali Yasseri. "It's good to make fun of things. It = feels=20 good to laugh."

Al Manar has also been relaunched after a thirty-five-year = absence, and=20 dedicated to its founder, Aziz Abdel Barakat, the journalism union = chief=20 whose execution in 1968 marked the beginning of the Iraqi media's = darkest=20 days. The 15,000-circulation daily has ambition, with forty = journalists=20 and bureaus in Hilla, Karbala, Najaf, Basra, Kirkuk, and Mosul. = Without=20 working phone lines, reporters file stories via courier, says Taha = Arif=20 Muhammad, the sprightly sixty-seven-year-old editor for whom = Barakat was a=20 mentor. "Some day, we would love to add bureaus in Jordan, Syria, = and the=20 United Arab Emirates," he said.

One day in late May, two American soldiers =97 most likely from = Army=20 civil affairs units =97 came by to ask Muhammad what his newspaper = needed.=20 "I told them, 'We don't want financial support or equipment or any = other=20 kind of help,'" he recalls. "'But if you have any news tips, = please give=20 them to us.'"

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