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Iraqi Kurdistan: Land of 1 Million
Journalist
31.5.2010
By Mariwan Faydullah Salihi, for ekurd.net
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May
31, 2010
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Many people have probably
noticed it: We have a lot of 'journalists' and
writers in Iraq's Kurdistan Region these days,
spreading their 'articles,' 'news,' and 'views' in
hundreds of Kurdish newspapers, magazines and
websites. I use quotation marks on the words
journalists and news to highlight that I don't
define them as real journalists and news. Kurdish
media is currently very chaotic and needs dire
attention to keep it well-organized.
These days, anyone owning a computer or, a pen and
paper, has become a journalist or writer in
Kurdistan Region…and there are probably a million of
them in this part of the world. What's more
shocking, is the fact that these so called
journalists can easily place their so called
articles,
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Mariwan Faydullah Salihi |
news and views (mostly
lies, rumors, gossips, and hate-speeches against
individuals or groups) in media outlets throughout
Kurdistan – we have hundreds of newspapers,
magazines and websites here.
How could this happen so easily? Well, there are
several factors. These are the main:
One: a certain media outlet (that includes the owner
and editor-in-chief) likes to have as much readers
as possible, and keeping that in place or make the
numbers grow, they need provocations and
pre-fabricated stories. Gossips, rumors, lies,
hate-speeches against well-known personalities and
groups are a must. But their 'menu's' also include
dishonoring Kurdish women by relating them to
prostitution, alcohol consumption and sex (taboos in
the highly conservative and tribal Kurdish society)
– which in fact only leads in the increase of 'honor
killings' against them, instead of fixing the
problem. Whoever writes about these subjects, is
welcome in these media outlets.
Two: and then there are the 'opposition' or
'independent' outlets, which concentrate heavily on
spreading anything that is anti-government and
against certain politicians in the government and
political parties. Anyone who wants to write about
these 'hot' topics, is again welcome doing so.
Unfortunately, until now there's no such thing as
real independent media outlets in Kurdistan Region;
every one of them is somehow connected to a certain
group with a certain agenda.
Three: a new trend in some Kurdish media outlets, is
the 'import' of foreign employees (from neighboring
countries and increasingly also, Westerners). Some
of these foreign 'journalists' or 'editors' are not
even journalists or editors back in their own
countries – some of them include students! The
demand for English writers in Kurdistan Region is
increasing day after day, so anyone who speaks
'some' English is appreciated here. One
editor-in-chief of a renowned Erbil-based newspaper
once told me that "having a blonde, Western employee
is very important, because high officials in
Kurdistan do not easily give interviews and access
to local journalists." He said to me that he knew
his foreign 'journalist' was "not professional" but
needed him to do the "tough" interviews – despite
the fact that many people have denounced his bad
quality writings and misinterpretation of certain
issues. Recently, one foreign intellectual even
called this journalist "unprofessional" and talked
about his "poor command of the English language."
What worries me most is that foreigners enjoy a much
higher salary than locals do in our own media
outlets.
I am not against foreign journalists in Kurdistan,
but they should never be employed on the expenses of
other professional local journalists or reporters.
They should be hired only in the case when there are
no locals available in the required fields. Our
youth, today, need employment more than any period
in history.
Four: the rarity of educated journalists and
editors-in-chief is another dilemma we're facing in
Kurdistan. The overwhelming majority of journalists
in Kurdistan don't have any journalistic backgrounds
or never had education in the field of journalism or
media. Most of them, in fact, do not know the
guidelines of journalistic writings or ethics of
journalism. Our readers have to 'learn,' 'educate,'
and 'read' topics written by these so called
journalists. The local English-writing journalists
here have mostly studied English Literature at the
local universities – a rather odd phenomena among
journalists in Kurdistan! Some journalists I've met
here who are graduates from the English Language
Department do not even speak English! One of them
can only say a few words and sentences, despite the
fact that he obtained a Bachelor's degree at one of
the prestigious universities here.
The issues of journalism in Kurdistan are endless,
meaning quick solutions are required to save the
local media. I always say that having a few real
professional newspapers and magazines are better
than having hundreds of them who do not provide any
valuable knowledge or information.
What we really need in Kurdistan is having a more
strict entry to the field of journalism. In other
words, we should have fixed standards, including:
people with no or few knowledge of journalism,
including its skills, should not be allowed to work
or write as journalists. The ones who do want to
stay as journalists, those who don't have proper
education or experience in the field, need courses
and schooling in journalism before they continue
their writings. These measures can solve many issues
today journalists are facing, including low
salaries. Journalists in Kurdistan receive extremely
low wages, perhaps because of the massive number of
unprofessional journalists working in this field
today – and who obviously oversaturated the local
media 'market' in Kurdistan,www.ekurd.netand
are ruining the 'business' for other skilled
journalists.
The Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate and other
authorities can create solutions, because it's in
the interest of other professional journalists and
more certainly in the interest of the future of
Kurdish journalism, to solve these existing
problems. Despite the fact of more than one century
of Kurdish journalism, our media is probably the
weakest and most unprofessional in the entire region
– and I don't say this with a smile.
Our journalists think that when they're writing
anti-government pieces, they are good and courageous
writers. A good journalist is someone who can
investigate crimes and fixes or highlights major
social problems. A good journalist is someone who
sticks to facts and ethics, and uses reliable
sources. "Always check, check and check…before you
write or publish any story," is something I have
learned and proud to use in my everyday-writings.
Mariwan
Faydullah Salihi, journalist at
Kurdish Globe and Rudaw in Erbil/Iraqi Kurdistan and
regular eKurd.net contributing writer. You may reach the author via email at: mariwan.journalist (at) gmail.com
Copyright © 2010 ekurd.net
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