BASRAH'S PRESS: A WORK IN PROGRESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000003 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR KDEM PGOV PREL IZ SUBJECT: BASRAH'S PRESS: A WORK IN PROGRESS BASRAH 00000003 001.2 OF 002 ======= Summary ======= ¶1. (SBU) A recent joint press conference held by Basrah PRT Leader and Basrah Governor Shiltagh Aboud to highlight USG reconstruction efforts generated revealing insights into the current state of Basrah's local media. The coverage -- which ranged from exaggeratedly positive ("PRT to rebuild city of Basrah") to largely negative ("Some PRT projects a failure")-- pointed or demonstrated the underdeveloped nature of Basrah's press corps, including an unhealthy dependence on patronage and government pay-for-play financing to stay in business. Local independent journalists have less bias, but still see negative stories as a way to gain credibility and build a reputation. Nevertheless, despite its deficiencies, the local media serves an important role in Basrah, and will hopefully mature and improve over time. End Summary. ========================= Good Stories Are Bad News ========================= ¶2. (U) The January 14 joint press conference -- a PRT Public Diplomacy section initiative -- sought to emphasize the positive working relationship between the PRT and local government, and to highlight the significant reconstruction work being supported by the USG. In his opening remarks, the Team Leader reviewed several dozen PRT infrastructure projects worth more than $120 million, including numerous bricks-and-mortar projects to improve the delivery of essential services. A six-page listing in Arabic of ongoing PRT projects was distributed. The PRT also displayed a large map depicting in Arabic several hundred past, current, and planned USG projects in Basrah Province. In highlighting the partnership between the PRT and local government, the Team Leader explained that, with the completion of these infrastructure projects over the next 12 months, the USG role would shift from infrastructure development (which he noted that the Iraqi government would need to assume and fund) to capacity building within the local government. ¶3. (U) Reports published following the press conference ranged from purely positive to largely negative. The positive stories focused on the importance of the projects and the significant investment the USG has made in Basrah province. Most stories (both positive and negative) credited the significant USG investment in specific projects, but also noted Basrawi discontent with the lack of dramatic progress in solving the province's massive infrastructure problems. The largely negative stories twisted comments made by the Governor Shiltagh into criticisms, or complained that the projects had failed to completely rebuild Basrah's infrastructure. A number of stories reported the PRT's transition from a focus on bricks-and-mortar projects to capacity building assistance without characterizing it as good or bad. ¶4. (U) The most negative article, distributed by Gulf-Arab-owned, pro-Sunni Al-Somariya, led with a paragraph citing Governor Shiltagh as criticizing some PRT-supported projects for not having been implemented satisfactorily and stating that they were "doomed to failure." Though the next few paragraphs of the story reported the Team Leader's review of specific projects, the final half of the story expanded on the comments by the governor who had expressed concern about a few projects (garbage trucks that remained inoperable for want of spare parts and a canal cleanup project that he saw as failing because of shortcomings of the Iraqi companies implementing the project). The journalist concluded with a paragraph claiming that dozens of reconstruction projects carried out over the past years have not improved the quality of life for Basrawis. ============================================= ======= Underdeveloped Media Lacks Experience, Creates Fears ============================================= ======= ¶5. (SBU) PRT experience and conversations with journalists, scholars, Basrah government press officers, and politicians reveal several factors that explain the diverse coverage of the press conference. An underlying problem is that the local Iraqi media is underdeveloped. An unfettered press is a recent development in Iraq, and journalists and editors here are still climbing the learning curve, as are government information officers. A key reason the PRT organized the joint press conference was because the government's information officers are reluctant to engage the media. They harbor fears that the media will misreport something, politically endangering their bosses as a result. Their lack of faith in the media is to some degree warranted because few reporters are trained or experienced journalists. Mahmoud Bachari (protect),an independent journalist the PRT is using to conduct transparency training for Basrawi journalists, told us that many journalists in Basrah got BASRAH 00000003 002.2 OF 002 their jobs through connections or as favors. Most had little or no experience in the field before being hired. ============================================= === Southern Iraq's Journalists: Beholden and Bought ============================================= === ¶6. (SBU) Apart from lacking experience, these journalists are often beholden to benefactors, and report their stories to satisfy their biases. News bias is not just circumstantial; it is part and parcel of the economics of journalism southern Iraq. Bachari recounted how journalists are paid by political parties, businesses or wealthy people to run specific stories or cover certain events. He added that the government is a big source of revenue for media outlets because it pays journalists to cover specific stories. PRT staff witnessed this pay-for-play practice several months ago, watching as the media advisor to the governor openly passed out envelopes of money to journalists at the end of a joint Governor/Prime Minister press conference. Positive coverage by a journalist generates more coverage requests and thus more revenue from the government. As a result, many journalists, editors, and media outlets are reluctant to criticize the government in their stories. ¶7. (SBU) In addition to payment for placement, another key factor in biased coverage is politicization of the media. According to Bachari, certain media outlets are effectively extensions of specific political parties or foreign interests, and they follow the party line in reporting on any issue. Commenting on the coverage of the joint press conference, Bachari said that the outlets that had run positive stories were Al-Forat, Al-Nakhile, Al-Fayyhaa, Al-Massar, Al-Ateja, Al-Babilya, Al-Iraqiya. He added that Al-Massar was backed by the Da'wa party, and that the founders of Al-Forat and Al-Nakhile were Da'wa supporters, thus generating sympathetic coverage. Largely negative coverage had come from Al-Sharkia, Al-Baghdadya, and Al-Somariya. These outlets, said Bachari, were all owned by Sunni foreigners, and typically criticized Maliki and the Da'wa party in their reporting. The stories that had fallen in the middle, but which were more positive than negative, were generally reported by independent or international journalists, such as Reuters, Radio Sawa, IHA, and al-Hura. Saudi-backed al-Arabiya attended the conference, but chose not to report the story. ============================== Independent Does Not Mean Fair ============================== ¶8. (SBU) Bachari also remarked that sometimes even independent journalists emphasize negative aspects of a story to gain credibility and exposure. He added that any attempt to seek redress from a reporter or media outlet, even for a factual misrepresentation, would likely lead to even more negative coverage. The reporter would probably run a second story playing up the role of the original coverage in angering powerful interests, such as Basrah's governor or the USG. Overall, he said that Basrah's press has not developed the traditions or role of most western press -- to be an unbiased reporter of information that checks abuse of government power. ======= Comment ======= ¶9. (SBU) The reporting media in southern Iraq, like so much else in Basrah and the rest of Iraq, is a work in progress. While it may not have yet developed the objectivity and professional independence that would best serve a budding democracy, it does serve a useful role despite its many deficiencies. The press gets information to the public, has politicians vying (albeit paying) for coverage, and every story critical of the government reminds Basrawis that they no longer live in a society where the government is above reproach. Training through projects like the PRT's transparency project and the existence of independent journalists are two positive influences that will help build a more professional cadre of reporters over time. Until then, the Basrah government (and the PRT) can occasionally expect good stories to be bad news. End Comment. NALAND