Iraqi PM Maliki Limits Critical Journalists, Fails to See Irony

by Daniel J Gerstle · 2009-11-29 12:16:00 UTC
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Journalists fear Prime Minister Maliki may be choosing to limit freedom of the press ahead of national elections in Iraq. In the coming months, the moderate Shiite-led coalition of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki aims to hold on where it is while more conservative Shiite groups, Sunni Baathists, moderates, radicals, Communists, progressives, and Kurdish parties aim to win seats in parliament. Currently, the political violence in the county has receded somewhat from most governorates save for Mosul. However, terror groups continue to bomb civilian targets anywhere and everywhere to re-start conflict with the goal of creating space where radicals can carve out greater pockets of power.

Now in this climate, officials behind Prime Minister Maliki have filed lawsuits against journalists considered to be critical of Maliki, charging them huge fines. On the one hand, journalism has run wild in Iraq. More voices are good, but in many cases political parties engineer slanderous coverage of their opponents. However, if Maliki's allies intend to build a modern country and win the election, censorship is not only a poor strategy for winning but also a path to losing the support they already have.

For more, here's an interesting debate touching on these and other media challenges in the context of Iraq, in HELO Magazine (Helo = helicopter, if you're new to crisis zone work).

[Photo: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Garza Photography]

Daniel J Gerstle is a journalist, human rights researcher, and humanitarian aid consultant. He is Editor and Chief Correspondent for HELO: The Crisis Story Magazine.
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