POMED Notes: “Iraq’s News Media After Saddam”

On Wednesday, the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) hosted a panel discussion on the state of the news media in Iraq. The discussion centered on a report commissioned by CIMA and written by journalist Sherry Ricchiardi titled “Iraq’s News Media After Saddam: Liberation, Repression, and Future Prospects,” which was released in March 2011. CIMA senior director Marguerite Sullivan introduced the panel, which was moderated by Laith Kubba, the senior director for the Middle East and North Africa Program at NED. Other panel participants were Shameem Rassam, a former journalist in Iraq, and Ammar Al-Shahbander, the head of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Iraq.

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On Wednesday, the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) hosted a panel discussion on the state of the news media in Iraq. The discussion centered on a report commissioned by CIMA and written by journalist Sherry Ricchiardi titled “Iraq’s News Media After Saddam: Liberation, Repression, and Future Prospects,” which was released in March 2011. CIMA senior director Marguerite Sullivan introduced the panel, which was moderated by Laith Kubba, the senior director for the Middle East and North Africa Program at NED. Other panel participants were Shameem Rassam, a former journalist in Iraq, and Ammar Al-Shahbander, the head of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Iraq.

Sherry Ricchiardi focused her remarks on the way in which journalism in Iraq has changed since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. Iraqi print, audio, and visual outlets have proliferated, making the Iraqi news media one of the most diverse in the region. In sharp contrast to Saddam Hussein’s tight grasp on state-owned media, there are now over 200 privately owned media organizations in Iraq.

However, journalists in Iraq work in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Journalists often practice self-censorship or face retribution from government forces or other militias. The government seems to turn a blind eye to dangers faced by journalists; although 93 journalists have been murdered in Iraq since 2003, not a single murder has been solved or a perpetrator brought to justice. A misleadingly named “Journalist Protection Law” currently in the Iraqi parliament threatens to further reduce press freedom.

Shameem Rassam, an Iraqi exile who anchored Iraq’s state television news in the 1960s, stressed the need to train and educate the next generation of Iraqi journalists. She attributed the current “chaos” and lack of structure in Iraqi media to the post-invasion abolition of the Ministry of Information and initial resistance to allowing Baath-era journalists to join media organizations.

Ammar Al-Shahbander argued that journalists in Iraq are feeling increasingly empowered. While conditions are indeed dangerous, they are no worse for journalists than for civil servants or other professionals. He claimed that while under Saddam Hussein journalists were afraid of the government, currently the government is afraid of journalists. Moreover, in the past six months there has been a “significant positive shift” as the fierce debate over the “Journalist Protection Law” indicates the consolidation of a freer, more diverse Iraqi media. Mr. Al-Shahbander predicted that a comprehensive crackdown on the media reminiscent of the Saddam Hussein era would be “impossible” in today’s Iraq.