Challenges of media in Iraq ‘deeply rooted in society’

Six months ago, editor Assos Hardi of the independent Iraqi Kurdish newspaper Awene was brutally assaulted in an alleyway next to his office. Assos Hardi speaks to IMS about the challenges of independent journalism in Iraq

The attack left him with 32 stiches and six wounds to the head. The assault, Assos Hardi believes, was an act of retribution for having published a front page story about how the Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan fired two staff members in a telephone company for cancelling his phone line when he failed to pay his phone bill.

Attacks on the rise

The attack on Assos Hardi was only one of 350 attacks on journalists and media workers in the semi-autonomous region of Iraq, Kurdistan in 2011. But despite his ordeal, Mr. Hardi thinks that the growing number of attacks on media workers by authorities and power holders in Iraqi society can also be interpreted as an acknowledgement of the growing influence of independent media on public opinion – hence the attempts to stifle freedom of expression.

“Resistance to remaining silent is stronger than the fear of attacks amongst independent media workers,” he says in an interview with International Media Support (IMS) in his hometown of Sulimanyah in Iraqi Kurdistan.

As one of the pioneers of independent media in Iraq, Assos Hardi is a well-known and prominent figure in the Iraqi media community. In 2000 he co-founded the first independent newspaper in Iraq, Hawlati and later in 2006 established the weekly independent newspaper Awene (The Mirror) which focuses on in-depth analysis of politics and society. Like most other media in the Iraqi print industry, the paper suffers from a low circulation (7000) and a weak financial base due to a lack of income-generating activity that can help keep a paper afloat.

Totalitarianism prevails

The challenges of independent media are far from only financially based. Some are more deeply rooted in Iraqi culture and society, according to Assos Hardi.

“One of our main challenges is the political mentality of the government. The ideology of the majority of the parties is based on totalitarianism – and totalitarianism does not accept diversity. The parties believe that they represent society and have the right to decide on what information reaches the people. The political mentality is also not to accept criticism and their reaction is immediately to accuse anyone who criticises the authorities of being linked to the opposing party,” Assos Hardi explains.

According to Assos Hardi, after Iraqi Kurdistan gained its autonomy from the regime in Bagdad in 1991, the Kurdish authorities talked about democracy and human rights. But the totalitarian mentality prevails, and newspaper publishers who do criticise the government are regularly charged with defamation, attacked, kidnapped and sometimes murdered for their stories.

Cultural conservatism hampers freedom of expression

While Kurdistan in the north of Iraq remains more liberal than the more conservative south, the culture is littered with taboos in both public and private life and of course in the media. Religion, sex and tribalism are off limits, partly due to a marriage of interests between conservative religious elements of society and the political parties who stand together against the media.

“I firmly believe that it is possible to find ways to talk about these taboos,” Assos Hardi explains.

“In my newspaper, we recently wrote an article about the use of pornography in our society. We asked the question: Why do we have pornography? Because of oppression, because girls and boys cannot socialise and connect with one another.”

Lack of laws protecting freedom of speech

The lack of an independent judiciary system remains another major obstacle to ensuring the freedom and security of an independent press.

“There is no legislation protecting journalists and the court system is under the influence of the ruling parties – you can therefore imagine what the outcomes of most cases are in a system such as this,” says Assos Hardi who himself has two suspended jail sentences for charges brought against him by the authorities.

“There are no laws that specifically guarantee freedom of speech or access to information, and those that do exist are not applied correctly. However, within our system in Kurdistan there are professional judges who choose to act independently, but they are in a minority.”

Worse in Bagdad

It is difficult to obtain figures for how many independent media there are in Iraq as a whole. In Iraqi Kurdistan there are a handful of independent media that include Assos Hardi’s Awene and Hawlati.

“Finally the ruling parties in Kurdistan seem to have accepted independent media to a certain extent,” he says.

“They are alive both in print and radio thanks to young journalists. They are the product of 12 years of work by civil society as well as the influence of the Arab spring uprisings.”

But the situation of independent media in the south of the country in Bagdad is very different from that of the more liberal Kurdish north. Development and freedom of media in the south lags behind by years, according to Assos Hardi, and the situation of journalists is much more difficult with regular threats and attacks.

“My view is that those who are dissatisfied must have the freedom to speak out rather than let their anger manifest itself in a negative or violent way as we have seen it happen in countless countries. Today, ordinary people are more courageous,” Assos Hardi underlines.

“But for now, anyone who speaks out could face challenges.”