Focus on media growth in Baghdad

Iraq has heralded an explosion of newspapers, radio and television stations as journalists, politicians, religious groups and young entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the new freedom to make their voices heard. Estimates of the number of newspapers in the capital, Baghdad, range from 70 to more than 100. In such a volatile situation, with security still a major issue and the country in turmoil, the media is set to play a crucial role. "People in Iraq clearly need to be informed about what is going on," Duncan Furey, the operations manager of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), which is planning a training programme for Iraqi journalists, told IRIN from New York. "Without crucial information, they will end up listening to the rumour mill in Baghdad." The newspapers now available on the streets of Baghdad range from the serious to the scandalous. Most are owned or controlled by political or religious parties. "Rival political interests jockeying for position are establishing highly partisan media, which could be destabilising in a fragile post-conflict environment," according to a recent report on the Iraqi media by the IWPR, Index on Censorship and the Baltic Media Centre. One of the best selling papers in Iraq is the Arabic language paper, Al-Zaman, owned by Sa'd al-Bazzaz, who used to edit the state-owned Al-Jumhuriyah before he defected. Most of the pages are produced in London, although a few months ago some started being printed in Baghdad. Al-Bazzaz has already admitted his interest in politics. "We are an independent newspaper, we write about issues such as water, electricity and security - but the most important issue is the political side and the future of Iraq," Nada Shawkat, the news editor who worked in the state run media for 27 years, told IRIN. "The problem is trying to ensure the papers do not write false information, or make problems between Iraqi people," she said. The backers of other papers include religious and political groups. There is no advertising and little to be made through sales. "Your primary motivation is clearly not financial - they must be doing it for other reasons," Furey said. "It is not sustainable to have a truly independent newspaper at present." However, international agencies are keen to step in to help improve the standard of journalism. Some of the journalists have never written before, others are veterans of the old regime, under which the government and ruling party tightly controlled journalism. "Before we used to feel that there was a policeman standing behind us - it will take time for people to shake off that," Shawkat said. IWPR will shortly organise regular workshops for journalists and give them the chance to have their work published on the website and offered round to newspapers. However, it is still extremely difficult for many journalists to work - given the lack of resources, power or even telephone lines. The office of the special representative of the UN secretary-general for Iraq is proposing to set up a centre for Iraqi journalists with computers, newspapers, a library conference room and satellite television. This would give them a place to meet and have access to facilities. "We want to help Iraqi journalists to improve their skills, to be able to research properly before writing, and be able to write with neutrality and professionalism," Hamid Abdeljaber, the deputy spokesman for the special representative, told IRIN. He said they would also organise workshops and training for the journalists at the centre. Furey of IWPR believes journalists can make a positive contribution to the stability of Iraq. "At a time of all these problems, it would be good for the Coalition, for example, to communicate what they are doing - why they are searching buildings, for example, and what is happening. Iraqi people clearly need to be informed about what is going on." The BBC World Service Trust has launched a project to broadcast news on basic humanitarian news on the BBC's Arabic Service. "We are trying to highlight the needs of the community and give out information on the problems of unclean water, education and displaced people," Jihan al-Alaily, the editor of the five daily minute programme known as Calling Iraq in English, told IRIN. At the moment, her team puts out a five-minute programme a day, but hopes to increase that. The three reporters and the producer are young graduates or students - only the presenter has previous experience. "We thought it might be difficult to change the habits of veteran reporters, and we have found our young team is keen to learn," Al-Alaily said.

Media is set to play a key role in the reconstruction of the country

"I think everyone could do with training," said the programme's producer, Hiba al-Sudani, an English language student at Baghdad University. "We have to be open-minded in our reporting." A similar explosion of newspapers and radio was seen 12 years ago in the Kurdish areas after the Kurdistan regional government was set up. "At that time we had 120 newspapers for 3.5 million people," Falak al-Din Kaka'i, the editor of Al Ta'akhi, which is published by the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Kurdish and Arabic, told IRIN. "But afterwards it came down, and now we have two daily newspapers, and the others are weekly, monthly or periodicals." He said some papers in Baghdad, including his own, had discussed the issues of what to publish, and had already agreed not to inflame public opinion. The American civilian administrator, L. Paul Bremer, has said the media must not incite racial, ethnic or religious hatred, indicate support for the banned Ba'th Party or publish material calculate to provoke opposition to the Coalition Provisional Authority. The US controls the former Iraq state-run television and radio, now called Iraqi media network. It is still unclear what kind of curbs will be imposed on the media, whether there will be a media law, and who will speak for the industry. But the journalists say they are making daily progress. "Before we were living in the dark and disconnected from the outside world, said Al-Sudani of the BBC. "It will take some time, but Iraqis are smart and they can learn fast."