Iraq: The Heritage of the Past and the Challenges of the Future

Since the 4th of April 2003, Iraq has witnessed a major transformation in its media landscape. From just five daily newspapers, within the first three months the number of the weekly and daily newspapers rose to more than 180. The change has not just been restricted to the quantity of the titles available, but there has also been a substantive qualitative shift in ownership structures and in public’s free access to information.

During the past 35 years, the majority of Iraqi press was owned either by the state or by the ruling party (except one newspaper which belonged to a Kurdish party who had entered into an alliance with the government). Those newspapers received their instructions from what was then called “The National Information Bureau” which was operated by the ruling party. This “bureau” was responsible for directing the editorial policy of these newspapers.