The New Iraqi Media: An Interview with Rawand Darwesh

By Laura Bowman on 05 May 2006

LB: Rawand, can you give a history of Iraqi Kurdish Region’s media?

RD: The media in Kurdistan Region of Iraq is a developed version of what used to be called among Kurds as struggle-media, or revolutionary-media. The Kurds in Iraq were persecuted by consecutive Iraqi governments since the Region was annexed to Iraq early last century. During the last century, Kurds wanted the natural rights that were being enjoyed by all other nations of the world. Therefore, they reflected this desire in their media, encouraging the Kurds to support autonomy for themselves and to tell the enemies, (the dictatorial regimes in Iraq and neighboring countries,) that Kurds wanted to exist like other nations and enjoy democracy and autonomy. Another goal was to tell the world that Kurds are not Arabs, not Turks, not Persians, but they are a different race that deserve to exist like all other nations and has a long history and civilization in the Middle East.

LB: How did this environment affect the message of the media in your area?

RD: The Kurdish media was born in an era when there was a fight on all fronts for autonomy and the right to exist. The struggle for autonomy and liberation from the powerful nations around us shaped the Kurdish media. It wasn’t a media to advertise merchandise or the luxury items like in the West. It was a media composed of radio and print publications, urging other Kurds to resist the dictatorial regime’s efforts to change their demography, geography and even ethnicity. This media was often delivered from secret locations in the mountains.

LB: Did the media remain true to that form throughout the struggle for autonomy?

RD: In 1991 the Kurds in Iraq revolted, and controlled three Kurdish provinces of Iraq, thanks to the No-Fly-Zone imposed by the UN. As Kurds controlled their region, their media policies began to change. The Kurdish media wanted to show the world that Kurds are people who want democracy and freedom from dictatorships. After 1991 most of the media outlets were funded and supervised by the Kurdish political parties promoting this message of freedom and autonomy.

After the fall of the dictatorial regime of Saddam and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Kurdish media changed policies again. This time they were telling the world a number of things: that Kurds have always been against dictatorship, they want to get closer to the west, they want to help rebuild Iraq, and most importantly they are NOT part of the violence that has stricken some areas in the middle of Iraq.

LB: Similar to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, the southern parts of Iraq are made up of diverse ethnic and religious groups. Can you comment on the ethnic/religious makeup of your area, and how it has affected the media?

RD: Not only Kurds live in Kurdistan. There are Turcomans, Christians (Assyrians and Chaldeans) and Yezidis (some Christians and most of the Yezidis identify themselves as Kurds). These groups also have their own media outlets like newspapers, magazines, radios and TV stations. That is to say, each ethnic and religious group is totally free to speak, publish and study in their own language. Their media outlets are also are in their own languages. The Christians for example have many magazines, newspapers and even a satellite channel.

The media here will never be staffed with only Kurds. No one would question an employee’s ethnic background. The only requirements for employment are their qualifications and then adequate job performance. When I worked for Kurdistan Satellite TV, I had Christian and Turcoman colleagues and I don’t remember having ever argued or even cared who is from which ethnic background. Kurds themselves were persecuted and do not want to persecute other minorities.

LB: Can you comment on the rest of Iraq? Are the media groups divided along ethnic and/or religious lines in the areas south of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region?

RD: In the rest of Iraq, post dictatorship media is a different story. While there used to be a small number of government controlled media outlets, now (after the fall of Saddam’s Ba’ath regime) dozens of uncontrolled media outlets appear in Iraq. There is no fixed statistic for how many media outlets there are in Iraq including its Northern Kurdistan Region, but the closest estimate might be close to 200 media outlets (dailies, weeklies, quarterlies, publications & pamphlets, local TVs, satellite TVs, AM and FM radio). The number of websites is unknown; they are in dozens if not in hundreds.

Ethnic and or religious discrimination or categorization in media is a red line in all of Iraq. No one in Iraq would ever attempt, or even dare, to discriminate in public against another religion or ethnicity. It is a red line in the media. All media outlets speak respectfully of other ethnicities. No outlet would ever want to be dubbed as racist. When the Shiite Al-Askari shrines were bombed in Samara last month, all media in Iraq condemned it and blamed non-Iraqi “terrorists and saboteurs” for the attack. Individual reprisals took place, but it wasn’t urged by anybody. No media outlet in Iraq would ever try to insult or attack a specific religion, sect and/or ethnic groups. In many ways, the media played a major role in preventing the further deterioration of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Arabs after the attack on the Samara Shrines. All media in Iraq urged Iraqis to unite and prevent evil forces from outside to spark the fire of civil war. Civil war is in nobody’s interest.

LB: In looking ahead to media’s future in post-Saddam and post-war Iraq, what do you foresee as obstacles in establishing multi-ethnic and multi-religious media groups?

RD: I don’t foresee problems, if there were less regional interference in Iraq’s internal affairs (mainly from Syria and Iran). Iraqis know each other and have lived together for decades. After Operation Iraqi Freedom many international terrorists and mis-informed jihadists tried hard to destroy anything being rebuilt in post-dictatorship Iraq. They didn’t want America to look "good" in Iraq. They also worked hard to create ethnic and sectarian problems among the Iraqis by attacking Shiite sites and/or Sunni ones. Such attacks, of course will create a rift between the two Moslem sects. And if there is distrust between them, then how can a multi-religious media outlet will stand on its feet? So, to me, peace and stability in Iraq is the best factor in promoting and developing the "already existing" multi-ethnic and multi-religious media in Iraq.

LB: Any closing recommendations regarding the establishment of multi-ethnic and multi-religious media groups?

RD: The post-dictatorship media in Iraq is facing a lot of problems, yet a lot of transformation as well. In Saddam controlled Iraq, all media outlets numbered not more than the fingers of both hands. After the fall of the regime in March 2003 they ballooned to many dozens, if not hundreds. Most of the media outlets are controlled by the political parties, who have great influence due to their ability to finance projects. The private sector, (private companies,) isn’t sponsoring the media yet because they are waiting for improvement in the security situation. All in all, Iraqi journalists are learning more everyday, adapting their strategies, and walking away having a better grasp of the difficulties they are facing. Despite the influence of the political and religious groups, Iraqi journalists are determined to improve their media and establish freedom of press some time in the future. The sooner security and stability spreads, the sooner Iraqi media will be freed from influence.

Last updated 12 January 2009