Iraq

USIP Dialogue on Media and Conflict in Iraq Spawns Call for Partnership

(AP Photo)

USIP convened a groundbreaking conference on media and conflict in Iraq in Istanbul May 14-16, 2008. The event was part of the Institute’s Iraq and its Neighbors project and was co-hosted by the Center for Sustainable Peace at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul.

Participants included media executives from Iraq and across the region. These executives, who represented entertainment, news, citizen media and new media technology, met with officials from the Iraqi government and international experts to explore media’s effect on the conflict and vice versa.

The participants called for "a partnership between a government committed to freedom of expression and media committed to responsible use of the means of communication" to enable both to weather the current conflict and look forward to a more peaceful future.

The meeting resulted in a two-page "Istanbul Declaration" featuring specific recommendations whose implementation should be feasible within the next five years, including:

• An independent advisory committee to prevent incitement
• A privately funded media support foundation
• Public disclosure of media organizations’ funding sources
• Objective criteria for the distribution of Iraqi government advertising expenditures
• An Iraqi communications satellite funded by a public-private partnership
• A "media city" in Baghdad to encourage indigenous entertainment programming
• Increased protection of journalists
• Free and equal access to government information sources
• Enhanced access to the Internet, in particular for women and people in rural areas

The declaration reaffirms a unified commitment to the recognition and implementation of existing international standards for production, broadcasting and publishing and a strong desire to build the capacity of a transparent, indigenous Iraqi media dedicated to serving the people of Iraq with regard to information, entertainment and education.

 Download the full text of the declaration (English) PDF | 71 KB

 Download the full text of the declaration (Arabic) PDF | 106 KB

 Download the list of participants PDF | 35 KB