Cross-posted at DailyKos. In one of the deadliest weeks in Iraq, reports the International Federation of Journalists, five journalists have been killed, one of them beheaded. Not one single media outlet in the world has covered the beheading, and scarcely noted the other deaths Details below:
Thanks only to an Egyptian newspaper, we know that “Romania still awaits news about the kidnapped journalists in Iraq.” The last time the three journalists were seen, reports Egypt Election Daily News, “was when the Qatar-based TV station Al Jazeera aired a tape showing the three Romanian journalists [PHOTO] who disappeared in Baghdad on Monday, March 28.”
Reports Democracy Now!:
In addition, a journalist working [for al-Sabah newspaper, Ahmed al-U’badi, was beheaded in Baghdad apparently by a group known as al-Jihad and al-Tawhit].
I am furious. (What else is new.) I checked every wire service and newspaper. There isn’t a single story about the beheading of the Al-Sabah newspaper journalist, except for Electronic Iraq‘s reproduction of the IFJ press release.
I am furious. (What else is new.) I checked every wire service and newspaper. There isn’t a single story about the beheading of the Al-Sabah newspaper journalist, except for Electronic Iraq‘s reproduction of the IFJ press release.
Will anyone note his death except for a small cadre of international journalists?
You may remember my diary on April 9: “Justice Denied: Media Killings That Haunt the United States.”
The diary focused on the media groups worldwide are questioning the shootings and killings of journalists in Iraq, and the announcement by the Newspaper Guild-CWA and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists that called on the administration to “heed the requests from journalists around the world for an independent investigation into the record number of deaths among media staff covering the war in Iraq.”
The 8th of April, we woke up early in the morning, and we saw some tanks already on the bridge. They were not hiding. They were there. When the attack happened, I saw them the first time like four hours before the attack on the bridge. I was in the 16th floor of Palestine Hotel, and I was waiting for a phone call from my radio station in Spain, because I had to be on the air, and I was on the balcony. Suddenly, my phone rang, so I went inside the room. And when I was doing that, the attack came. At first, I thought that I was dead. I felt completely empty inside me. I couldn’t hear anything. Then five seconds later, I reacted. I started to touch myself. I discovered some blood in my leg, and I decided to run. … [Read the entire interview with journalist Olga Rodriguez]
Clearly the U.S. is not acting to ensure the safety of journalists and, unless the journalist is European or American, the story gets no play.
Visit IFJ for a detailed list of all 14 cases in which journalists were killed in Iraq in incidents involving US forces, and the IFJ letter to President George W. Bush.
Learn more about an important new documentary on the killing of journalists at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. The site is titled, “Jose Cuoso: victim of US war crime.”
The IFJ report notes that “[t]he death toll among Iraqi journalists continues to rise”:
The IFJ backs a statement from the Kurdistan Syndicate protesting over the killings and terrorist acts and calling on the Iraqi authorities to ensure safety for journalists. The Syndicate is working with the IFJ and other Iraqi groups in a programme to assist and protect media staff in the country.
For further information please contact +32 2 235 22 06
The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries
OT News Note: Democracy Now! today has an extended segment on Marla Ruzicka. You can watch or listen. Transcripts are usually up by 11 AM PDT. Amy Goodman interviews
Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi blogger and architect (whose blog we visited last Saturday, thanks to DuctTapeFatwa’s link); Tim Rieser, aide to Democratic Senator to Patrick Leahy of Vermont; and Kathleen Aguilera, good friend of Marla Ruzicka as well as Campaign Director of her NGO, Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict.
Ohmigod! = First reaction upon seeing your headline.
Followed by sinking feeling in pit of stomach.
It looks like they worked for, and presumably were, non-U.S. It’s too dangerous for western reporters to leave the Green Zone or even their hotels, from reports that are starting to break through the high-level silence.
It’s too painful. I want to go hide under the covers and eat chocolate-chip cookies until the bad mens go away.
Reporters without Borders
I found this, but nothing else at RSF.
You know I follow the press pretty closely. Here are some bare links that you may find interesting:
-International Freedom of Expression eXchange: http://www.ifex.org/en
Democracy is on the march? Is this more of the same stifling of reporters in Iraq? Is this what the Italian knew? We must demand an explanantion of every US news source why these murders are not being reported. Just like no head count of Iraqi dead. How long will this UnAmerican administration continue to get away with this? I am going to vomit. I am writing my reps immediately, msnbc, cnn, abc, cbs, nbc and the rest of the media whores!!!! Gos I am so angry!
Yesterday:
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/
19 Iraqi Guards executed in Haditha.
—
Al Jazeera
http://tinyurl.com/cmo24
the bodies of 19 Iraqis were left in a football stadium in Haditha, a town 220km northwest of Baghdad, an Iraqi reporter and residents said.
—
Iraq’s outgoing prime minister, Iyad Allawi, has escaped a car bomb assassination attempt which targeted his convoy in Baghdad.
At least two policemen were killed in the attack that occurred late on Wednesday night while Allawi was being driven home from a meeting.
—
Meanwhile, Aljazeera reported a tanker packed with explosives exploded near a US military position in central Ramadi.
The blast was followed by fierce shelling of mortar rounds targeting the governorate building, used as a base by US troops.
Intermittent clashes also erupted between fighters and US troops in other parts of Ramadi during the day. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
—
[Helicopter shot down}
Aljazeera, quoting the Bulgarian Defence Ministry, said three were Bulgarians. The US embassy said six of the dead were American citizens.
___________________
What was CNN headlining this morning, what were they chuckling about in false bonhomie?
The new Pope.
The decision came after more than a month of fruitless attempts to convince Harris Corp to let Al-Sabah have its independence and a series of measures to take over the newspaper.
This choice has been in the making since March 20, when decree 66 on Iraq’s Public Service Broadcasting was published.
Breach of original agreement
Without any consultation with the journalists and other staffers who created Al-Sabah after the last war, Harris Corp, the American contractor hired to rebuild Iraq’s radio and television, convinced the CPA to include Al-Sabah in decree 66, which means making it forever part of the Iraqi Media Network. link
and from 2004
By Mudhar Shawkat
(Al-Mutamar, 28 Mar 04) – In our editorial of March 16, we did not mean Al-Sabah newspaper itself. Rather, we, urged by patriotic motives, tried to diagnose the defect in ministries working on inhibiting progress in democratic process in Iraq. Al-Sabah newspaper did not have to follow the principle that “the best way to defend is to attack”. First, Al-Sabah’s editorial lacks the simplest elements of professional journalism, not to mention linguistic usage. Besides, it was shameful to have the cheek to assail Ahmed al-Chalabi who is one of the top symbols of patriotism. Had it not been for him, Ismail Zayer [Al-Sabah editor-in-chief] would not have enjoyed the broad freedom to express his democracy. As to partnership with the Coalition Provisional Authority, everyone knows that the CPA founded the Iraqi Media Network, to which Al-Sabah is attached. And partnership is usually among counterparts. After June 30, we will see whether Al-Sabah is really 100% Iraqi or not. What arouses laughter is that Ismail Zayer said “Leave journalism to its specialists.” We, for our part, had indeed hoped that Zayer would leave journalism to its specialists. Everyone knows that al-Mutamar, unlike Al-Sabah, is sold out by early morning because it tackles issues close to people. Al-Sabah is tasteless to all Iraqis. If Zayer thinks he will become a patriot by glorifying the Occupation Authority, Governing Councillors, and Ministers, then he is mistaken. Moreover, the partnership he talks of can be true when he actually shares opinions with the CPA, and not when he takes lots of their dollars and does whatever they ask of him.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.) link
and the most recent
http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/Our media has relinquised to right to be considered news channels quite awhile ago(think Al Gore and what media and print did to him, or Clinton).
Yeah, who cares if any non-american dies in Iraq, right. Then again at this point the media is completely downplaying what is going on in Iraq regarding our own troops/how many attacks a day, etc.
I mentioned on Sat. on open thread about the Kurdish tv reporter being killed and I doubted it would be on the news. As always the above link is invaluable.