Iraq

Looking back on the past twelve months, I am thrilled by the results of IREX’ work and excited to consider the prospects for the coming year.  In 2012, with our generous donors’ support, it was possible to benefit more people than ever before. Over half a million lives have been touched this last year because an IREX’er -- in the U.S. and around the world -- was there to provide support. In doing so, we’ve had the privilege to work with more than 400 local partners in 125 countries.

It was mid-September, 2003, and still stifling hot in Erbil, when I first stepped off the small plane onto the narrow strip of pavement serving as a runway at the time. I had been warned about the flight prior to leaving, but nothing could completely prepare me for the small, crowded plane or the spiral nosedive that was to mark my arrival in Kurdistan. I was met in a gravel area by U.S. military personnel who whisked me into a military vehicle, and off to meet my ride.

Newly released IREX audience research shows that while Iraqis continue to rely on television as their primary source for news and information, social media and mobile devices play an important role in the consumption and distribution of news and information in Iraq.

Ali Al-Mutlbi, IREX’s Senior Media Coordinator based in Najaf, tells us about a local newspaper salesman trying to make ends meet selling papers on the street in a post-Saddam Iraq. The story reflects the difficulties facing many Iraqis today. For those seeking to help develop a vibrant media sector in Iraq, it reminds us that the media is more than journalism, but rather helps generate income for many people up and down the economic ladder.

I recently returned from a brief and productive trip to the Middle East looking at the existing portfolio of programs IREX implements in the region and exploring possibilities for new opportunities.

If anyone with a camera, computer, or blog can be considered a journalist, does it make sense for laws to create special protections for journalists? Or if a journalist must be someone employed by a media organization, someone who earns a regular salary and is specifically tasked with collecting and disseminating news and information, does it make sense to extend special legal protections only to that group? The question has been raised most recently in Iraq, South Africa and Turkey.