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Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

Cheryl D. Kluwe

Abstract

The Iraqi media has always reflected the social attitudes of the people who controlled it and, to a much lesser degree, those of its recipients. This Comment is a brief foray into a few of the reasons for the recent changes in that dynamic. It is a discussion of how the transition of the native Iraqi media into a semblance of a free press has been affected by conditions both inside and outside of Iraq, public perception, and the U.S. government's varying influence over the Iraqi media. This short work as a whole underscores an uneasy symmetry between old attitudes that were a product of the Ba'ath media machine and current concerns that have arisen under much different circumstances. The policy towards media within Iraq during Saddam's presidency was one of suppression, censorship, and government-controlled content. Despite having to overcome numerous hurdles in the post-Saddam era, the Iraqi media's development is ongoing. Legal impediments for Iraq's fledgling media still exist on many levels even with the regime change, from religious-based libel laws on one end of the spectrum to the U.S.-imposed media restrictions on the other, with multiple layers of local and national law in between. Compounding the difficulties of obtaining and relaying information within present-day Iraq are safety concerns that raise the stakes for Iraqi journalists far beyond mere harassment or detention. The technologically-savvy insurgency's presence in the Iraqi media scene is also a facet of the new era of Iraqi communications; countering their efforts remains a challenge. Noting the level of a nation's media encumbrance is more than a general remark on social progress. It is a telling reflection of both the people and the government within the community it serves. The underpinnings of change likely lie not only with how, and through whom, the message is relayed to the Iraqi people, but by whether or not the Iraqi government takes notice of Iraqi public opinion.

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