Jordan Times
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Iraqi news agency to
relocate head office to Jordan
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
CAIRO — Iraq’s independent news agency, Aswat Al Iraq (voices of Iraq), plans to
move its headoffice from Egypt to Jordan by early February in order to be as
close as possible to the events on the ground and the news it covers in the
war-torn country, agency officials said this week.
“After several attempts at opening our head office inside Iraq failed and
[after] having to close down the offices for security and even technical
reasons, we had no other choice but to consider the closest we can be to what
goes on in the country and that of course is Jordan, the gateway to Iraq,” the
agency’s editorial secretary, Husain Ajeel told The Jordan Times.
He said the agency has already applied to the Jordanian authorities and Ministry
of Interior for licences and work permits.
“We have everything ready — the offices we plan to rent once we are in Amman as
well as all the equipment we would be using, it’s all being prepared and
awaiting the required permissions,” Ajeel said, noting that the office —
currently operated from a small yet busy room at the Egyptian Press Association
building — would not be available after mid-January.
The rent for the room at the press association expires on January 15, according
to Ajeel, and until the agency moves to Amman, the office will relocate to a
room in the Reuters offices in Cairo — where it started two years ago.
Aswat Al Iraq, perceived as Iraq’s only independent online news agency, began
publishing in Arabic in November 2004. It now publishes news in three languages
Arabic, English and Kurdish.
In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) teamed up with the
Reuters Foundation to set up an online ‘news-exchange’ platform to allow Iraqi
reporters to share their stories.
Additional funding was provided from the Spanish Agency for International
Cooperation, allowing the network to become a fullfledged news agency that
provides breaking news to local, regional and international media outlets.
The agency began with a headoffice in Baghdad (Al Abaniya area), which was later
closed down following the death of its security adviser as he was heading home.
The Abaniya office was for training as well as a newsroom.
The agency then moved to a commercial area in Baghdad, but still faced problems.
According to Ajeel, one day American troops took over the building and
positioned snipers on the roof, which eventually forced them to evacuate.
The second option for them was an office in Sulaimaniya, considering that the
Kurdish areas were the safest in the country. But technical reasons, including
the shortage of power supply and fears of influences on the agency’s
impartiality due to the tense relations between the Kurdish government and the
central Iraqi government, changed the plans again. The agency thus moved to
Cairo.
The site was running on a limited basis in the early stages in order to prepare
journalists for the country’s major event — the first Iraqi election in January
2005. Aswat Al Iraq’s news reports, according to Ajeel, are drawn from a network
of independent reporters and a group of contributing media organisations,
including three of Iraq’s key independent newspapers.
“The agency is focused on professional reporting produced by Iraqis for Iraqis,”
he said.
“In the beginning, we used reports from our correspondents in Iraq as well as
some reports from newspapers there,” Ajeel said, adding that the agency now has
over 50 reporters in all areas of Iraq as well as around 50 photographers. “We
are now a credible source of information for more than 200 media institutions,
including newspapers and TV stations,” he told The Jordan Times.
“We have plans to start providing our services by subscription and will launch
our photography section soon. We now have a base of clientele who rely on us for
credible news. They also know we are independent and not subject to any
influence,” Ajeel added.
Iraqi journalists often complain of the difficult and dangerous circumstances
they face on a daily basis. They say the simplest task of getting an official
reaction comes with a number of difficulties including reaching specific areas
or even getting any kind of response, let alone the constant life-threatening
situation.
Experts note that the media scene in Iraq has profoundly changed since the
US-led invasion. It remains one of the most complex and difficult environments
to move around. Following the toppling of former Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein’s regime, there was an “explosion of information.” The number of
newspapers in the country jumped from five official newspapers to more than 180
and dozens of radio and TV stations immediately after the invasion. But
according to journalists, many of those newspapers or even TV stations are
influenced by a certain party or side or became its mouthpiece.
They say political and religious divisions have become evident within the media.
In addition, a large number of journalists and other media workers have fallen
victim to insurgents and coalition military action.
But the number of newspapers steadily dropped to around 15 in the past two years
as the financial viability of media companies continued to be seriously affected
by the security situation. And even private media outlets were often accused of
having links or support by political, ethnic or religious groups.
“Under the current circumstances in Iraq, and especially the difficult media
scene, we are trying our best to maintain our neutrality as a news agency and
portray news in the most professional manner and in accordance with news
agencies’ journalistic codes,” said Ajeel, adding that several of the agency’s
staff had been threatened and criticised for working with Aswat Al Iraq, or for
writing a certain news item not to the liking of a certain official or party.
“But we believe that the more professional we become the safer we are,” he
added.
The Aswat Al Iraq site (www.aswataliraq.info) currently publishes over 600 news
items a month. Reuters Foundation has provided journalism training to over 50
Iraqi journalists contributing to Voices of Iraq in workshops held in Amman,
London and Cairo. Similar training will be provided for journalists recruited
for the news agency.
By early 2006, the Cairo office — which was operated by Egyptians — started to
have an Iraqi editorial staff.
Currently, five Egyptians and eight Iraqis work in the office, ranging from
trainers to editorial staff. The employees at the Cairo office are in charge of
releasing urgent news that come from reporters on the ground in Iraq and also
check news that is sent from the agency’s four offices in Baghdad, Sulaimaniya,
Basra and Karbala.