Deathtrap Iraq

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- Five journalists have been killed in recent days in Iraq, the most dangerous country in the world for news professionals according to a press freedom group. "The first few days of May have been exceptionally murderous for the Iraqi news media," Reporters Without Borders said in a Tuesday statement. "We can no longer find words to express our horror at the tragedies...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced shock at the death of five journalists and media assistants in the space of a few days in Iraq. "The first few days of May have been exceptionally murderous for the Iraqi news media," the press freedom organisation said. "We can no longer find words to express our horror at the tragedies constantly suffered by the press in Iraq, where 93...

BAGHDAD, 9 May 2006 (IRIN) - The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said that the killing of two Iraqi media workers whose bodies were recently discovered south of Baghdad "reflects the continuing dangers for journalists working in Iraq". Laith al-Dulaimi, a reporter for the privately-owned TV station Al-Nahrain, and Muazaz Ahmed Barood, a telephone operator for the station...

New York, May 8, 2005 - The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murders of an Iraqi reporter and a media worker whose bodies were discovered early this morning south of Baghdad. Laith al-Dulaimi, a reporter for the privately owned TV station Al-Nahrain, and Muazaz Ahmed Barood, a telephone operator for the station, were kidnapped by men disguised as police officers at Diyala Bridge while...

PRAGUE, May 2, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Like so many of his colleagues, Radio Free Iraq (RFI) Baghdad bureau chief Nabil al-Haidari has had close brushes with danger. In November 2005, a car bomb ripped into the downtown hotel that housed RFI's Baghdad office. "Our former office of Radio Free Iraq in Baghdad was bombed," al-Haidari told RFE/RL. "It was really severely damaged and even now that office is...

New York, May 1, 2006 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the criminal charges brought against two Danish reporters accused of leaking state secrets by publishing intelligence reports that questioned the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Danish journalists say it is the first time that reporters have been indicted in their country for leaking state secrets, Agence...

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Iraq Civil Society and Independent Media Program (ICSP) works to strengthen Iraq's emerging commercial and public service media, emphasizing professional news and public affairs reporting to better inform and engage the Iraqi public in the democratic process. The ICSP program provides varied and ongoing support for developing media outlets at...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the murder of Koussai Kahdban, an Iraqi journalist with local radio station Al-Bilad, who was shot by gunmen on 22 April 2006 in Baghdad. His death brought the number of journalists and media assistants killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003 to 88, of whom 12 have been killed since the beginning of 2006. "This horrible deed once...

(April 25, 2006) -- Journalists are reviled by many for alleged negativism and over-focus on bad news in Iraq. Or perhaps the problem is: Their employers are just trying to do it on the cheap. Ironically, the same media that criticizes the U.S. for sending too few troops to stabilize Iraq send too few reporters to cover much more than the dramatic bombings around Baghdad. "I hope we keep out of...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- Under Saddam Hussein, political cartoons were little more than state propaganda, but press freedom has unleashed a wave of pointed political cartooning. With few restrictions on speech now, dozens of newspapers have blossomed in Iraq, and all the major ones seem to run one or two cartoons a day, The New York Times reported. A deep cynicism -- about politicians in general...