Iraqi Media Audit: Eight-City Report

The BBC World Service Trust carried out 2 surveys of the Iraqi broadcast media in Basra, Umm Qasr, and Amara between April 4 and May 3 2003 and in Baghdad, Hilla, Najaf, Kerbala, and Kut between June 6 and June 14 2003. One of their central findings: The process of developing a strategy for the rebuilding of the Iraqi media is just getting underway.

The report details media trends in each of several regions. For example, "Baghdad is still in chaos and security in the city is a constant worry. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has hired a private defence contractor, SAIC, to try to establish a national radio and television station, the Iraqi Media Network, from the bones of the former national broadcaster. This process is fraught with technical, security and political difficulties, and so far has been judged by the CPA as unsuccessful. Part of the difficulty results from the unsettled situation within the CPA itself and the lack of any transparent strategic plan for re-establishing a national Iraqi media network." Reports from other regions include:

• Basara Region: "...In the absence of a national plan for the media it is anticipated that restarting limited and locally driven broadcasting might fill a distinct vacuum of locally generated news and information. If the national network is resurrected on a similar structural model to that which existed before, these local stations might be expected to supplement a centrally run public service network which it is hoped would share the same editorially independent and diverse, representative values."
• South Central Iraq: The presence of enthusiastic, determined people working to set up radio and TV stations in post offices and relay stations owned by the former broadcaster led to the conclusion that "...opportunities in this region for supporting the emergence of an indigenous independent media are very good." Whereas engineers are highly skilled and resilient in that they can adapt to basic facilities, "production and editorial skills are by comparison very weak". Furthermore, researchers found that there were no women working in the media in this region at all.

In general, the report notes that the internet has "barely penetrated into Iraqi culture and society". Iraqis who have the means to do so are buying satellite dishes in an effort to stay connected to the world; they will expect their national broadcaster to compete technically and in terms of content. However, commercial media enterprises are likely to take some time to develop in the current climate because of a legal vacuum.

Researchers found that the CPA is working to draw Iraqis into the process of fostering a free, independent, responsible and trusted broadcast media scene, but it has so far not been successful in convincing Iraqis of its good intentions and engaging them in discussion of the future of their country. The researchers note that definition of the relationship between the CPA and the Iraqi Media Network is urgently needed.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.For more information, please contact:

Nusrat Ul-Ghani

nusrat.ul-ghani@bbc.co.uk

Tel: 0207 557 2492