CPA Order 100
The final order issued by the CPA was Order 100, which simply made revisions to several previous orders to reflect the change in authority. Below are the revisions made to Order 14 (prohibited media activity) and Order 65 (media commission). The originals are in our document archive.
This is the original Order 14 with Order 100's revisions in caps:
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 29, 2004 at 03:01 PM in CPA Orders, NCMC | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (207)
Iraq: US watchdog "troubled" by formation of media commission
Text of letter from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, issued as a press release by the CPJ on 29 July
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by the Iraqi interim government's formation of a media regulatory commission that reportedly will have the authority to restrict news coverage. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday 27 July that Iraqi officials had created a Higher Media Commission charged with regulating print and broadcast media in Iraq and empowered to impose sanctions, including closure, against outlets that cross "red lines" in their coverage. Ibrahim Janabi, whom Your Excellency appointed as head of the commission, said in an interview with The Financial Times that Iraqi officials were drafting a list of prohibitions on news coverage that would include banning certain criticisms of the prime minister. For example in the interview Janabi said broadcasters that air a sermon given last Friday by radical Shi'i cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who made derogatory comments about Your Excellency during his speech, could be banned.
Janabi also told The Financial Times that if the Qatar-based satellitechannel Al-Jazeera, which aired part of the sermon, rebroadcasts thespeech, "we will give them two weeks to correct the policy and after that we will tell them sorry we need to close your office."
Today, CPJ interviewed Your Excellency's spokesman George Sada who, citing your letter authorizing the commission's formation, said the body was created to "organize the work of the media." However, Sada said he was unaware of Janabi's comments or the details of the commission's powers and activities.
Word of the new commission came one day after Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari lashed out at Al-Jazeera and other pan-Arab broadcasters, accusing them of "one-sided and biased coverage of the situation in Iraq." In an interview with Al-Jazeera, he said: "We will not allow some people to hide behind the slogan of freedom of the press and media."
CPJ views these statements and reported regulations as a threat to press freedom in Iraq. The restrictive media regulations and censorship described by Janabi would undermine the very foundation of democratic society by restricting the free flow of information. If Iraqi officials move forward with this reported plan, it would represent a serious setback for press freedom in Iraq and call into question the interim government's commitment to basic standards of free expression.
As an organization of journalists dedicated to defending our colleagues worldwide, CPJ calls on you to publicly clarify the role and function of the Higher Media Commission and to ensure that any official regulation of the media conforms with international standards for a free press. We further call on you to ensure that Iraqi officials cease future threats of censorship and harassment against media.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in
English 29 Jul 04
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 29, 2004 at 02:59 PM in Higher Media Commission | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (51)
Temporary Code regulates work of media in Iraq
Az-Zaman (Baghdad; summary from Arabic original)
July 29, 2004
Temporary Code regulates work of media in Iraq
The Iraqi National Commission of Communications and Media ratified a temporary list of regulations through which all TV stations currently working inside Iraq will be subjected to certain laws and new principles of work.
Executive director of the Commission Siyamend Zaid Othman said the temporary regulations are applicable in most civilised countries and internationally acknowledged.
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 29, 2004 at 02:38 PM in NCMC, NCMC, Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (215)
Media body chief talks about press guidelines
Text of report by Iraqi Al-Iraqiyah TV on 27 July
[Presenter] The president of the high commission of the media denied a British press report on potential restrictions on the media envisaged by a proposed law. He said the law would not restrict freedom of the press but the working of the media would be subject to a set of regulations.
[Reporter] In a report on the high commission, set up in the past few days to oversee the working of the Iraqi media, the Financial Times quoted the president of the committee, Ibrahim al-Janabi, as saying a law under consideration, known as the red lines, will put restrictions on freedom of the press. But Al-Janabi denied the report.
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 27, 2004 at 02:56 PM in Higher Media Commission | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (45)
Iraq sets up committee to impose restrictions on news reporting
Financial Times
By Nicolas Pelham in Baghdad
Published: July 27 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: July 27 2004 5:00
Iyad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister, has established a media committee to impose restrictions on print and broadcast media, a government official announced yesterday. The step underlines an aggressive new attitude towards press freedoms, in spite of US efforts to nurture independent media.
Ibrahim Janabi, appointed to head the new Higher Media Commission, told the FT the restrictions - known as "red lines" - had yet to be finalised, but would include unwarranted criticism of the prime minister. He singled out last Friday's sermon by Moqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand Shia cleric, who mocked Mr Allawi as America's "tail".
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 27, 2004 at 02:47 PM in Higher Media Commission, Press freedom | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (48)
NCMC Adopts Written Code of Practice for Broadcast Media
Baghdad, Iraq - Today the National Communications and Media Commission adopted an interim Broadcast Programme Code of Practice. As a result, broadcasters are no longer subject to enforcement actions without regard to written standards of conduct or due process.
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 27, 2004 at 02:35 PM in NCMC | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (277)
NCMC Decision Number 040727-01 (Code of Practice)
Interim Broadcasting Programme Code of Practice
Pursuant to the authority granted by Order Number 65, as amended (March 20, 2004), the Transitional Administrative Law of Iraq, and United Nations Security Resolution 1546 (2004), the National Communications and Media Commission (the "Commission") hereby decides that the attached interim Broadcasting Programme Code of Practice is in effect as of the date of entry into force set forth therein.
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 27, 2004 at 02:32 PM in NCMC | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (438)
Text of NCMC's Interim Broadcasting Programme Code of Practice
Preamble
Pursuant to the law establishing the National Communications and Media Commission (the "Commission") as the sole authority for the licensing and regulation of the broadcasting sector in Iraq and requiring the Commission to create an effective and mandatory Code of Practice for broadcasting responsibility, this Code of Practice sets forth rules and editorial standards for programme content of television and radio broadcasters in Iraq.
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 27, 2004 at 02:29 PM in NCMC | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (214)
Al Jazeera Adopts a New Code Of Accuracy and Good Taste - (Reuters)
The Arabic satellite television channel Al Jazeera, accused by the United States of graphic, anti-American coverage of fighting in Iraq, released a new code of ethics on Tuesday that it said would ensure balanced and sensitive reporting. The channel defended its right to report "the ugly face of war" but said the guidelines would take account of Western and Arab sensitivities when considering whether to broadcast explicit images of violence.
Click here for the full article from the NY Times
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 14, 2004 at 10:36 AM in Aljazeera, Journalist violence | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (21)
Text of Aljazeera's code of ethics
(Thanks to Hani Sabra at CPJ for providing this)
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 14, 2004 at 10:26 AM in Aljazeera | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (74)
THE BIG STORY WITH JOHN GIBSON (on Aljazeera's ethics code)
Transcript from Fox news
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 13, 2004 at 10:46 AM in Aljazeera, Middle East media, Violence in broadcasting | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (185)
AL-JAZEERA TV TALK SHOW DISCUSSES LEGITIMACY OF SADDAM'S TRIAL
The topic of discussion of Al-Jazeera TV's live programme "Opposite Direction", moderated by presenter Faysal al-Qasim, in the studio in Doha, on 6 July, was whether Saddam Husayn should be tried, and if so should he be tried by the new Iraqi government. Guests in the studio were: Palestinian thinker Hamdan Hamdan and Dr Khalaf Abd-al-Samad, secretary-general of the Iraqi Al-Shahid (Martyr) Foundation and a political prisoner in Iraqi jails who spent over 11 years in prison.
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 6, 2004 at 04:17 PM in Aljazeera | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (56)
Iraqis tune in to everyday tale of life under occupation - Financial Times
A television soap drawing its themes from daily reality in Iraq is proving a big draw, reports James Drummond
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Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 3, 2004 at 04:26 PM in Native media, Television shows | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (126)
UK/Iraq: New satellite TV "Arabic News Broadcast" targets Iraq - BBC Monitoring Research
A new pan-Arab satellite TV channel, United Kingdom-based Arabic News Broadcast (ANB), has beamed test TV programmes from 1700-2000 gmt on the Hotbird 4, Eutelsat W1 and Nilesat satellites. The channel is reported to have four regional bureaus in the Middle East and is believed to be uplinked from Beirut.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 1, 2004 at 11:05 AM in Middle East media, New television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (78)
