IRAQ: ITALY TRAINS IRAQ TV JOURNALISTS

UNCLAS ROME 001806 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SECDEF FOR OSD/AJTORRES JOINT STAFF FOR SYIKE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID IT IZ KPAO XF IRAQI FREEDOM SUBJECT: IRAQ: ITALY TRAINS IRAQ TV JOURNALISTS REF: ROME 355 THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET PUBLICATION. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: ITALIAN STATE BROADCASTER RAI HOSTED TEN TELEVISION JOURNALISTS AND TECHNICIANS FROM THE IRAQI MEDIA NETWORK FOR A TWO-WEEK TRAINING SESSION IN JANUARY. THE TRAINING PROVED USEFUL FOR THE IRAQIS, ACCORDING TO LUIGI SAITTA, A RAI NEWSROOM DIRECTOR WHO OVERSAW THE TRAINING. SAITTA DESCRIBED THE IRAQI JOURNALISTS AS TECHNICALLY PREPARED, BUT LACKING IN NEWS SENSE DUE TO YEARS OF WORKING IN A RIGID ENVIRONMENT. RAI APPEARS WILLING TO HOST SIMILAR PROGRAMS FOR OTHER IRAQI JOURNALISTS, IF REQUESTED BY ITALIAN AUTHORITIES. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) ECON AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICERS MET RECENTLY WITH LUIGI SAITTA, NEWSROOM DIRECTOR FOR ITALY'S PREMIER NEWSCAST "TG1" ON STATE BROADCASTER RAI. SAITTA PROVIDED EMBOFFS WITH A BRIEFING ON RAI'S JANUARY 9-23 TRAINING PROGRAM FOR JOURNALISTS AND TECHNICIANS FROM THE IRAQI MEDIA NETWORK (IMN). THE PROGRAM IS PART OF AN GOI-SPONSORED, EURO 400,000 (1 EURO = $1.20) ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO IMN (REFTEL). ¶3. (SBU) RAI, BY SAITTA'S ACCOUNT, HAD VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PROGRAM. HE EXPLAINED THAT RAI RECEIVED A REQUEST ON SHORT NOTICE FROM THE ITALIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO HOST THE GROUP. THE PRESENCE OF THE IRAQI JOURNALISTS, HE SAID, WAS KEPT SECRET FROM THE ITALIAN PRESS AT THE MFA'S REQUEST. ¶4. (U) MEMBERS OF THE IRAQI GROUP--WHICH CONSISTED OF CAMERA OPERATORS, GRAPHICS TECHNICIANS, EDITORS, AND ANCHORS--WERE GIVEN TWO WEEKS OF TRAINING WITH SEPARATE TECHNICAL AND EDITORIAL PROGRAMS. AT THE END OF THE TRAINING, THE IRAQIS PRODUCED A NEWSCAST IN ARABIC USING RAI'S STUDIO AND EQUIPMENT. SAITTA REMARKED THAT THE IRAQIS ALREADY POSSESSED ADEQUATE TECHNICAL SKILL AND THAT THE EDITORIAL AND MANAGEMENT ASPECTS OF THE TRAINING WERE MORE BENEFICIAL. THE VISITORS, HE ADDED, GAINED THE MOST FROM LEARNING ABOUT RAI'S NEWSROOM ORGANIZATION AND EDITORIAL PHILOSOPHY. IN PARTICULAR, HE SAID, THE IRAQIS WERE INTERESTED IN HOW TG1 PRODUCERS PRIORITIZE STORIES BASED ON NEWS WORTHINESS, AS OPPOSED TO AUTOMATICALLY LEADING WITH THE PRESIDENT OR PRIME MINISTER. ¶5. (U) COMMENT: SAITTA BELIEVES HE AND HIS RAI COLLEAGUES ESTABLISHED A GOOD RAPPORT WITH THEIR IRAQI COUNTERPARTS. RAI APPEARS WILLING TO HOST SIMILAR TRAINING SESSIONS, IF REQUESTED BY THE MFA. POST, HOWEVER, HAS NOT HEARD OF ANY PLANS FOR FOLLOW-UP. END COMMENT. VISIT ROME'S CLASSIFIED WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/EUR/ROME/INDEX.CF M SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME01806 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED