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Iraqis are reading again, good news for the
capital’s printers who suddenly find themselves busy
after years of decline.
Firas Taha graduated from the University of
Technology in 2003 with a degree in computers and
hoped to land a job with a government ministry.
But there were none to be had – which was fortunate
for Taha who then found work at the Azraq print shop
in Baghdad’s Battaween district, earning twice the
salary he would have made as a government employee.
“This was a blessing I didn’t dream of,” he said.
The past two years have also been a blessing for
print shop owners who, since the fall of Saddam
Hussein and the end of his stranglehold on the mass
media, have seen their businesses flourish as Iraqis
enjoy the freedom to read what they please.
“The fear dispersed following the fall of the
regime,” said Abdul-Kareem Salim, a 35-year-old
writer.
Shops are now printing books, pamphlets and
newspapers prohibited under the old government. In
the old days, just asking about banned materials
could have led to imprisonment or even a death
sentence.
Under Saddam, the few newspapers that were published
looked like “dead corpses” when readers browsed
through them, according to one printer.
Today, 150 newspapers published throughout the
country are feeding print-shop businesses. In
Baghdad alone, there are 80 titles with a combined
daily circulation of 200,000. The smallest publish
3,000-4,500 copies a day, selling for 180 dinars
(around 13 US cents). The best-known and most
widespread newspapers have circulations of
15,000-35,000.
“A door that we didn’t even dream of opened,” said
Suhad Abdul-Munim, owner of the Multaqa print shop
in Baghdad.
Iraq’s elections have also been a boon for printers,
which were overwhelmed by demands for posters and
candidate information materials.
The boom has led many print shop owners to modernise
their business, selling old presses and buying new
ones that utilise computer technology.
Najim Wali, a supervisor at the Ibn-Khaldoon print
shop on Baghdad’s Mutanabbi Street, said his shop
paid 60,000 dollars for a new press, affordable now
it makes three million dinars (2040 dollars) per
month.
But not all print shops have benefited. Some owners
say they’ve seen business decline, because they
don’t hold the same political affiliation as the
newspaper publishers. “Those who issue the
newspapers only deal with those having links to the
party (they represent),” said Ahmed Dawood, owner of
the a-Muhtarif print shop.
Added to this, said Dawood, are the concrete
barriers and barbed wire along the street keeping
potential customers away.
And among the customers, not everyone is happy to
see the flood of printed materials. Saa Talib would
like to see the government take a greater role in
regulating the presses. “ It should not be allowed
to go on like this,” he said. “There should be laws
limiting printing, [as] some publications aim at
sowing discord among Iraqi people and instigating
sectarianism.”
But others say readers should be trusted to separate
the good from the bad.
“Educated people can make intelligent assessments
about what they read,” said Haider Majid, 28, “So
they aren’t affected by those who attempt to poison
their minds.”
Duraed Selman is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Baghdad.
www.iwpr.net
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