NYT: In War's Chaos, Iraq Finds Inspiration for Reality TV
"Reality TV could turn out to be the most durable Western import in Iraq." More
Posted by Matthew Burton on August 28, 2005 at 04:50 AM in Native media, New television, Television shows | Permalink | Comments (0)
New media NGO aims to improve Iraqi journalism
From IJNet:
Aug 22, 2005A new, independent nonprofit that plans to help improve Iraqi news media recently formed in southern Iraq. Six Iraqi journalists have formed the Afaq Media Forum (AMF), according to an August 16 announcement posted on the Middle East NGOs Gateway.
The Basra-based group says it has a variety of goals, including: building a stronger, independent press; increasing journalists’ participation in public policy; developing a sustainable network of informed journalists; promoting international action to defend press freedom; helping younger journalists improve their skills; increasing women’s participation in the media; and speaking on behalf of fellow Iraqi journalists.
The AMF hopes to achieve its ambitious list of goals through training programs, affordable training manuals, and partnerships with various news organizations, among other means.
The six founding journalists are forum’s trustees, and they plan to meet once a year to set AMF policy. For more information, contact AMF secretary Adil Hameed, telephone 426275 or 624617, mobile 07801125030.
Posted by Matthew Burton on August 24, 2005 at 06:54 AM in Native media | Permalink | Comments (0)
UN and Reuters launch agency project for Iraqi media
A new project aims to help Iraqi news media pool their efforts and assemble a more complete daily picture of events in their country.
The Reuters Foundation, with support from the UN Development Program (UNDP), launched the project on March 16. It aims to connect Iraqi media outlets so they can share their work, filling the gap left by the lack of a national news agency.
Click here to go to this IJNet article.
Click here for more information on Voices of Iraq (website mainly in Arabic).
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on March 21, 2005 at 11:01 AM in Internet, Links and Announcements, Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (216)
Media mogul accused of running Saudi-funded propaganda campaign
Saad Al-Bazzaz, the founder of Baghdad's most widely circulated newspaper (Al-Azzaman), is allegedly using Saudi money to fund the paper. Bazzaz also runs Al-Sharqiyah, the new Baghdad-based satellite network. He was Saddam Hussein's media chief prior to his 1992 exile. A NY Times article (see #2) from 2003 has, in light of this news, some interesting comments on Bazzaz:
"To spend all this money, to make all this investment, to take all this risk, it is because I am a politician," said Mr. Bazzaz, Al Azzaman's editor and publisher, "and to be a politician, you have to use the media as a channel."...Mr. Bazzaz demurs when asked about his financial backers, saying that most of the shareholders in his business are from his family, which he says comes from old Iraqi money.
Posted by Matthew Burton on January 27, 2005 at 11:08 AM in Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (171)
RFE/RL on native election coverage
The new edition of Media Matters gives us some much-needed fresh information on how domestic media are covering the election:
Reports and commentaries in print media have devoted much attention to debating topics such as the efficacy of postponing elections, the role that Islam will play in a future Iraqi state presumably led by a Shi'ite majority, the possible withdrawal of multinational forces, the Kurdish issue and the Kirkuk election, the coming constitution that will be drafted by the elected parliament, and the need to support democracy and transparent elections. Newspapers have also covered official statements from the Iraqi Independent Election Commission concerning the elections. At least three dailies claim to have their own research institutes that regularly carry out public-opinion polls on the election, which they routinely publish. Coverage of the local governorate elections has been sparse outside the areas of Kirkuk and Baghdad.
Iraqi television channels have done a thorough job of promoting voter participation, and have frequently carried public-information advertisements urging Iraqis to vote. However, the ads give little information about where and how to vote. Iraqi radio has also devoted much time to election coverage, particularly stations that support a radio call-in format.
No raw coverage, unfortunately. Here's the full article.
Posted by Matthew Burton on January 24, 2005 at 05:04 PM in Elections, Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (775)
MEMRI posts election PSAs
The Middle East Media Research Institute has compiled advertisements promoting the election from Al-Iraqiya, Al Arabiya and Abu Dhabi TV. Most of them are public service announcements, including one that depicts the withdrawal of the coalition. The one exception is an ad for Allawi. Overall, very professional. The PSA's were produced by something called the Future Iraq Assembly.
Posted by Matthew Burton on January 22, 2005 at 03:48 PM in Advertising, Elections, Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (66)
Baghdad paper on CPA and press freedoms
Jan 5 Editorial from Baghdad's Al-Dustur:
...the Americans and their cronies have declared war on Al-Dustur. Al-Dustur is our source of pride but they have classified it as hostile to the US presence in Iraq and its troublesome enemy...
Continue reading "Baghdad paper on CPA and press freedoms"
Posted by Matthew Burton on January 5, 2005 at 03:43 PM in Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (93)
IHT on Nahrain (Baghdad TV Channel)
A calmer voice comes to nascent Iraqi television scene
Nicola Clark
He may not seem like a revolutionary, but Mohammed Gohar is hoping to play a part in the transformation of Iraq's broadcasting landscape.
The 52-year-old founder of Video Cairo Sat, an Egyptian production company, Gohar plans to begin beaming Nahrain, a new Baghdad-based television channel, this month to millions of Iraqis who for decades knew only the strictly controlled dispatches of Saddam Hussein's propaganda machine.
Continue reading "IHT on Nahrain (Baghdad TV Channel)"
Posted by Matthew Burton on August 16, 2004 at 01:57 PM in Native media, New television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (136)
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.
Continue reading "Temporary Code regulates work of media in Iraq"
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 29, 2004 at 02:38 PM in NCMC, NCMC, Native media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (215)
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
Continue reading "Iraqis tune in to everyday tale of life under occupation - Financial Times"
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on July 3, 2004 at 04:26 PM in Native media, Television shows | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (102)
Baghdad's favourite radio station gives residents a voice - Michael Howard
From a modest family house somewhere in a western Baghdad suburb, Radio Dijla is fighting crime, saving lives, and treating the emotional traumas of lovesick teenagers.
Unthinkable during the Saddam era, this is Iraq's first talk radio station. It is only a small commercial channel that has sprung up in the maelstrom of the capital, but has already struck a chord with residents.
Up to 18,000 callers a day try to contact the station - it only answers a fraction of that number - and it has become Baghdad's favourite.
Click here to view this Guardian article
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on June 10, 2004 at 05:01 PM in Native media, New television, Radio | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (94)
CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
Out of a modest building on a Baghdad side street, an American staple has come to Iraq, talk radio. The first independent all-talk radio station in the country, Radio Dijla (ph), is the brainchild of Ahmad Rikaby.
Click here to view the rest of this transcript.
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on June 4, 2004 at 05:18 PM in Native media, Radio | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (185)
Tigris Tales: Real politics is replacing propaganda, thanks to our new-wave media. We even have satire now!
Click here to view Tigris Tales from the Guardian
Posted by Vanessa Hetherington on May 26, 2004 at 05:34 PM in Al-Iraqiya/Iraqi Media Network, Alhurra, Native media, New television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (75)
