In hardly any other country can more exciting stories be found than in today’s Iraq, notes Susanne Fischer in Die Zeit: But nowhere is the attempt to find and tell those stories more dangerous. Since the invasion, 83 journalists have died in Iraq (Fischer wrote 82. The 83rd was Monsef Al-Khalidi of Baghdad TV, says Reporters without borders: “He was shot dead at the wheel of his car by gunmen yesterday on the road from Baghdad to the northern city of Mosul.”)
Fischer should know what she’s talking about. She’s working for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting’s Iraq project in northern Iraq. Her report has a cautious, but not defeatist tone: Journalism in Iraq is not only dangerous, it is also often dependent on and heavily influenced by political parties and religious organisations. The main challenge for Iraqi journalists is to earn the confidence of the people – to show that the media work in the interest of the public, not the powerful. The classic task.
Related: Salam Pax is posting, though infrequently. Worthwhile also his Newsvine tips.
