Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Liberta' di stampa in Iraq

Meno male che la liberazione, oltre a distruggere tutte quelle
armi illegali (oooops!) e portare la democrazia (oooops!), perlomeno
ha fatto capire agli Iraqeni cos'e la liberta' di stampa....
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/06/04/iraq_media/index.html
Occupiers propose Iraqi media "code of conduct"
 
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 By Borzou Daragahi
June 4, 2003  |  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Faced with a freewheeling Iraqi
media, the U.S.-led occupation authority is devising a code of conduct
for the press, drawing protests from Iraqi journalists who endured
censorship under Saddam Hussein and worry for their newfound freedom.
Coalition officials say the code is not intended to censor the media,
only to stifle intemperate speech that could incite violence and
hinder efforts to build a civil society. The country is just too
fragile for a journalistic free-for-all, they say.
"There's no room for hateful and destabilizing messages that will
destroy the emerging Iraqi democracy," Mike Furlong, a senior adviser
to the Coalition Provisional Authority, told The Associated Press.
"All media outlets must be responsible."
U.S. forces have reason to worry about instability. Divisions run deep
in postwar Iraq, a tribal society split between majority Shiite
Muslims and minority Sunnis and between Arabs, Kurds and smaller
ethnic groups. Plus there is a thick seam of distaste for the American
occupation.
The issue is also proving another example of the coordination problems
that bedevil the effort to rebuild Iraq. As coalition officials draw
up press regulations, the U.S. State Department brought together media
people this week in Athens, Greece, to devise a proposed rule book for
Iraqi journalists.
Naheed Mehta, a coalition spokeswoman, said occupation officials
didn't know about the Athens meeting. Representatives of the Athens
group didn't know about the code being drawn up in Baghdad.
Asked about the unofficial proposal put together in Athens, Mehta
said, "There's no reason why that can't feed into our work."
Coalition officials haven't released details of their planned code.
But, Iraqi journalists, when told of the idea, worried that it could
lead to censorship.
"How can they say we have a democracy?" demanded Eshta Jassem Ali
Yasseri, 25, editor of the new satirical weekly Habezbooz. "That's not
democracy. It sounds like the same old thing."
Under Saddam, all media were controlled by the government and anyone
who strayed beyond the official line was punished. But in the weeks
since Saddam's government fell, new newspapers and other media have
sprouted, blanketing the streets with information and opinions -- some
of which have called for resistance or even violence.
"Under America's watch: raping, killing, burning and looting," read a
recent headline in Al-Ahrar, a new semiweekly paper. Another
newspaper, Al-Haqiqa, this week began publishing excerpts of "The
Protocols of the Elders of Zion" -- an anti-Semitic forgery by the
Russian czarist secret police that purported to be a plan for Jewish
domination of the world economy.
Mehta said the Coalition Provisional Authority's regulations would ban
hate messages, including statements likely to "incite violence or
ethnic or racial hatred."
"I'm not going to comment on specifics. They are still in the
discussion phase," she said. "These are all issues that need to be
looked at."
The Americans already are making clear they are keeping an eye on
Iraqi media.
Editors at the new daily newspaper Al-Manar said U.S. soldiers turned
up at its offices last week to tell them about a new media monitoring
board and ask for their opinion.
"They plan to set up a committee and some jerks will be on it," said
Mohamad Jubar, the editor in chief. "I'll fight any attempt at
censorship."
Iraq's postwar journalists and politicians say criticism of authority
is at the core of the democratic ideal.
U.S. officials in Iraq insist there will be no attempt to block
criticism of the occupation.
The Baghdad television station, for instance, which falls under the
coalition's control, has run a number of stories critical of the
U.S.-led occupation. Journalists there say they're allowed -- and even
encouraged -- to criticize the occupation authority responsibly.
One recent report showed footage of U.S. soldiers grappling with
retirees trying to collect pensions.
"We've done some pretty critical stories on U.S. authorities," said
Don North, an Arlington, Va.-based adviser to the station who has
helped launch independent media in the Balkans and eastern Europe.
"The journalists ask, `It is it all right to criticize the U.S. in our
story?"' North said. "Yes, of course -- if you can substantiate the
charges."
Still, to Iraqi journalists, the idea of a code evokes years past when
media were tightly controlled by the Ministry of Information and Odai
Hussein, Saddam's son and former head of the Iraqi journalists union.
"Is there a media code of conduct in the U.S. or U.K.? Why should
there be such a thing here?" asked Hamid al-Bayati, a leader of the
Iran-linked Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Its
new newspaper regularly criticizes the occupation.
Furlong said the coalition would not tolerate "outside forces
spreading destabilizing messages," an apparent reference to Iran,
which has flooded airwaves with radio and television broadcasts
critical of the occupation.
Even some Iraqi journalists wonder if the media scramble is excessive.
Jubar, the Al-Manar editor, called the current climate "a mess," and
Hamida Smessem, the new dean of Baghdad University's journalism
faculty, said the unfettered media is too much, too soon.
"These newspapers need to be organized, Smessem said. "They're hurting
each other with these words."


Niente da stupirsi , Giorgio , daltronde guarda che succede in casa yankee !
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,968375,00.html
e come saranno da ora in poi diramate le notizie
http://foi.missouri.edu/osi/pentagonosi2.html
Verita` , verita` , parola vana !
Ciao
Giano
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"Men often stumble on the Truth, but usually dust themselves off & hurry
away..." - Winston Churchill

 ha fatto capire agli Iraqeni cos'e la liberta' di stampa....
E' la stessa liberta' di stampa che esiste in tutti i paesi democratici,
Italia compresa.
-Stefano