US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4849

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 004849 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.0. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, PGOV, IZ, Media 
SUBJECT:  IRAQI MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS IN NOVEMBER: 
KURDISH INDEPENDENT SATELLITE RADIO STARTS UP, NEW 
POLLING AND MEDIA MONITORING ACTIVITY 
 
 
LONDON FOR ARABIC MEDIA UNIT 
 
(A) FBIS/OSC GMP20051109542002; (B) FBIS/OSC 
GMP20051117710038 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary and Comment.  Iraq's media sector 
remains extremely active, reflecting the unsettled 
political situation as different parties and 
candidates clamor to project their voices to a 
skeptical but highly politicized public.  November 
saw a new effort at independent broadcasting for 
Kurdish audiences and a new media monitoring service 
to cover elections.  Papers published more "polls" 
to illustrate editorial points or to project 
standings of electoral candidates, with some 
consequently drawing fire from those who disagreed 
with their "findings."  The media itself made news, 
with an introspective review of managerial 
shortcomings in the independent Kurdish-language 
Hawlati, and accusations of biased reporting or 
unethical media practices coming in several other 
outlets.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
New Radio Station, Media Monitoring Service 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) On November 9, Nawa Radio, an Iraqi radio 
station broadcasting in Kurdish and Arabic, began 
transmitting via the Hotbird satellite, according to 
the station's website at www.nawartv.com.  This is 
the first satellite radio we are aware of in Iraq, 
and it may reflect an effort to overcome the 
difficulty of FM broadcasting in Kuridsh areas, 
where mountains restrict the range of FM 
transmitters significantly.  The website boasts that 
"Nawa is an independent Iraqi national radio network 
that aims to produce objective, uncensored news and 
to serve as a platform for political discussion." 
FBIS reports (ref A) that Nawa Satellite Radio 
broadcasts 24 hours a day, and that FM broadcasting 
began in January 2005 from Baghdad, Mosul, 
Sulimaniya, and Kirkuk.  The producers indicated 
that they are also planning further projects, 
including newspapers, magazines, and satellite TV. 
 
3.  (U)  The week of November 15, the Iraqi NGO 
Mirat4 announced that it would begin media 
monitoring in Iraq.  The NGO indicated it would 
initially focus on elections, and that it intended 
to publish its first products at a press conference 
December 1, with another projected after December 15 
elections. 
 
Polls Draw Fire 
---------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) Iraqi media outlets are increasingly 
citing "polls" to report on trends or to boost their 
own party's standings.  Methods and reliability are 
impossible to gauge, as evidenced by widely 
divergent results, although independent outlets are 
seen as more likely to present credible results than 
party organs.  Some polls have apparently touched a 
nerve and provoked threats against editors. 
 
5.  (SBU) Polls on the Cairo Reconciliation 
Conference have varied widely, as have polls on the 
likely prospects for various electoral candidates. 
A survey on the website of the largely independent 
Al-Sabah, with its occasional secular Shia slant, on 
November 24 reported that only 17% of Iraqis 
responding felt that the "Cairo conference will 
contribute to Iraq's security," while 75.98% 
believed it will not improve the situation.  7% had 
no opinion.  On the other hand, on November 23, 
opposition Al-Fourat newspaper published a poll 
noting "Iraqis Optimistic Over Dialogue and 
Conference Success."  The paper reported that 93% 
were optimistic, 5% skeptical due to hasty 
preparation, while 2% declined to give their 
opinion. 
 
6.  (SBU)  On November 19 Reuters published a poll 
allegedly conducted and published by Bayyna 
newspaper (Hezbollah Iraq party organ, pro- 
government) in six of Iraq's 18 provinces, including 
Baghdad, Basra and Mosul.  Of the 38,500 said to 
have been polled, 51 percent reportedly said they 
wanted Ja'afari to remain as PM.  Mithal al-Alusi, a 
secular Sunni who heads his own election list, drew 
21 percent in that tally, with former PM Allawi in 
third place. 
7.  (SBU)  On November 15, a senior official at a 
major newspaper called to inform us that, after his 
paper published a front-page internet poll the 
previous day showing the relative popularity of 
potential PM candidates (Allawi, Chalabi, Ja'aferi, 
and Mehdi, in descending order), he received a 
"strong hint" to stop running the poll, and he asked 
PAOff if the U.S. could provide some protection or 
assistance, explaining that the current Iraqi 
government apparently took umbrage at the low 
showing reported for the PM (22%) relative to Allawi 
(40%) or Chalabi (30%).  Although the paper is part 
of the Iraq Media Network set up by CPA, it has been 
feeling heat from the government in recent months to 
control its editorial line.  On November 25, the 
editor told PAOff that the Prime Minister had 
actually pressed for his resignation, but he pushed 
back and won.  The editor suggested he was the first 
editor in chief in the Arab world to have survived 
such a tug-of-war with a sitting Prime Minister. 
 
8.  (SBU)  Al-Bayyan on November 17 reported the 
results of another survey that "Most Iraqis are 
Dissatisfied with Sentences Against Terrorists." 
Bayyan reported that a survey carried out by the 
Iraqi Archive Institution among more than 700 Iraqis 
of different backgrounds showed that 76.8% expressed 
dismay at trial sentences handed out to terrorists, 
19.5% were content, and 3.7% had no opinion. 
(Comment:   There is no information about judicial 
sentences in the public domain, indeed, papers do 
not report trials or convictions at all, and most 
Iraqis rely on word of mouth rumors.) 
 
Media as News - Kurdish Paper Airs Its Own Dirty 
Laundry 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
---- 
 
9.  (U)  Increasingly, the media itself was the 
focus of news.  We discovered November 15 that the 
editor of Hawlati (the only independent media voice 
in the Kurdish areas of Iraq) Asos Hardi had 
resigned in early November, along with ten 
colleagues.  Unusually, the paper publicized its 
problems.  By publishing Asos' letter of resignation 
November 17, Hawlati paper shed light on problems 
confronting most Iraqi media:  "I wished to leave 
the newspaper of my own free will. . .  something 
that defies a tradition where leaders are either 
forced to resign or stay until death.  . . .  An 
administrative crisis emerged because none of us had 
any experience managing an independent newspaper. 
At the time [of our founding five years ago] we only 
had media outlets of political parties.  We needed a 
system which provided not just transparency, but a 
proper mechanism to prevent the concentration of 
power in the hand of one person.  Unfortunately we 
could not fulfill this ambition."  In a meeting with 
Kirkuk poloff, the new editor indicated that his 
predecessor had been worn out fighting "defamation 
of character" lawsuits submitted by the two Kurdish 
political parties.  He attributes this to the 
paper's attempt to keep a neutral political 
editorial line. 
 
10.  (U)  The media began to finger its competition 
for unethical practices to promote political 
agendas.  In late November, al-Bayyan (Da'wa party) 
criticized al-Zawra, Al-Hurra, and Baghdad satellite 
television channels for exaggerating detainee 
torture "to discredit the Unified Iraqi Coalition." 
On November 22, Sunni electoral candidate Mithal al- 
Alusi gave a phone interview to (Da'wa party paper) 
Al-Bayyinah, in which he described Allawi as "the 
protector of the Ba'th" and challenged him to a 
televised debate.  Al-Zawra on November 22 published 
a column by Abd-al-Amir al-Majar commenting on 
recent reports that the US Embassy in London bribed 
a number of Iraqi and Arab journalists to "promote 
the US effort" in Iraq. 
 
11. (SBU) As usual, websites took more liberties 
than other outlets, which continue to face threats 
and intimidation.  Sawt-al-Iraq website, produced by 
Fayli (Shia) Kurds, discussed abuse of the media by 
political parties and candidates.  On November 22, 
they wrote:  "When the previous electoral campaigns 
commenced, the interim Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi, 
abused his post by exploiting public funds for his 
campaign. This included paying channels like LBC and 
al-Arabiyah, that showed his campaign around the 
clock, as well as USD10 million to fund the 
production of a biography similar to that of 
[Saddam] on Al-Arabiyah.  Millions of dollars from 
public funds were spent.  But we don't see Al- 
Arabiyah or any Lebanese channel showing campaigns 
for Prime Minister Al-Ja'afari, who has had to rely 
on the free public service messages provided by 
official channel (al-Iraqiya) to all lists.  There 
is a huge difference between a ruler who serves his 
people and a ruler who serves his interests by 
exploiting his people."  (NOTE:  Prime Minister 
Ja'afari has made liberal, some would say excessive, 
use of al-Iraqiya to highlight the successes of his 
government.) 
 
Sad Footnote 
------------ 
 
12.  (U)  One of Iraq's most famous political 
cartoonists, Mouayad Na'amah, died November 27 in 
Baghdad of a heart attack.  Na'amah at the time of 
his death was still publishing in independent al- 
Mada newspaper, where he received countless threats 
from insurgents for his strongly critical depictions 
of Zarqawi and al-Qaida.  During Saddam's era, he 
also drew fire for his cartoons, which always pushed 
the edge of what was tolerated in the press. 
 
SATTERFIELD