I had the privilege last Thursday of attending a panel of Iraqi journalists at American University’s School of International Service.  Sponsored by the International Communication program the panel was focused on media and democracy. 

The tone of the panel was set when one panelists brought light to the fact that over 70 journalists have been killed, either while working or in their homes, since the fall of Saddamm.  Death threats are a daily occurrence and building an infrastructure for free media seems daunting.  

The panel began with a discussion of the current situation; there are over 100 newspapers in Iraq, 25 TV stations and an even larger number of radio stations. This is rather astounding seeing as under the former regime there were 3 newspapers, 2 radio stations and 3 television stations, all run by the government.  Most Iraqis looking for critical analysis of news and events were forced to rely on neighboring Iran for news sources and even this was sketchy.  

Despite facing daily death threats, lack of infrastructure and military occupation, the four speakers continued to hold on to their belief in an the necessity of an independent press.  Toward the end of the panel the discussion came around to the American occupation and American/Iraqi perspectives of where we go from here.  According to the panelists, the majority of Iraqis do not want a full withdrawal of U.S. forces, however they do want America to deliver on certain promises such as security and infrastructure development. 

Not only were the panelists truly awe-inspiring, the discussion itself gave an element of reality to the Iraqi situation, both in terms of its media and in the situation as a whole.  While it is clear that these journalists believe there are lessons to be learned from observing American media, it is also clear that they are striving to follow their own path, one that will hopefully lend itself to a fully functioning Iraqi form of democracy and media development.

The end of the discussion reflected our confusion over what the U.S. should do in Iraq, it quickly became apparent that no one in attendance had any clear picture of the best path to take.  However, after attending this discussion I have to say I left with a clearer idea of what I think the U.S. should do.  I was against the invasion from the start, however, now that we are there, it seems clear to me that the U.S. has to attempt to fix some of the damage it has done.  Providing for a truly secure environment in which important democratic institutions such as a free press can thrive is one of these elements. I do not believe that the U.S. should be funding any type of press in Iraq however I do believe that space needs to be created for an independent press to flourish as an important element of any functioning democracy.