WILAYAH NEWS VOICE OF THE GLOBAL AWAKENING
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Chaos, incitement and sectarian instigation… that is the prevailing situation of Arab and Iraqi media outlets covering the explosive situation in Iraq these days. Despite the lack of live coverage from the battlefields and from regions hit by the crisis, many rumors and false information have been spread in opposing directions.
Baghdad– Half of any war is a rumor; this theory is being put into daily practice by Iraqi satellite channels from across the political spectrum, whether they are government proponents or opponents, religious or partisan, nationalist or sectarian.
The recent events in Mosul exposed most Iraqi media outlets and all Arab satellite channels. Despite the lack of live coverage from the battlefields and from regions hit by the crisis, many rumor and false information have been spread in opposing directions. Everyone became a [Joseph] Goebbels; some channels circulated rumors about cities falling quickly after Mosul and news that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was approaching Baghdad. Some even went as far as saying that militants were on the outskirts of the Green Zone, raising fears among residents of the capital.
Meanwhile, pro-government channels broadcast celebrations and patriotic songs in support of the armed forces, along with breaking news about the army regaining control over Salah ad-Din and some parts of Mosul. Instead of playing a role in fighting rumors, Iraqi channels actually spread news and rumors with sectarian instigation as the goal.
The coverage of foreign and Arab satellite channels was not any better. Most of these channels broadcast selected scenes of crowds on a highway, claiming they were Iraqi army soldiers fleeing Mosul, but they turned out to be fugitives freed from Badush prison [when militants stormed it].
Offices of al-Arabiya, al-Arabiya al-Hadath and ANB channels in Iraq witnessed mass resignations yesterday, as many employees protested what they called “these channels’ policy toward the Iraqi people and their support for the ISIS.”
All channels committed mistakes and acted in an unprofessional manner. However, security forces shocked everyone when they warned only certain media outlets from “broadcasting rumors threatening internal security.”
In fact, security forces warned a number of Arab and Iraqi channels of the consequences of “promoting false information without checking with official security sources.” Al-Arabiya, al-Arabiya al-Hadath, BBC Arabic, and al-Sharqiya received direct notices from security forces threatening to shut down their local offices if they continued to spread “rumors and false information.”
The Iraqi government also blocked some news websites, including those of al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera, a step that followed the Communications Ministry’s decision to block social media sites and YouTube last Thursday “for security reasons.”
From his part, the Iraqi armed forces spokesman, Lieutenant General Qasim Ata urged media outlets “to accurately report information,” threatening to “take measures to deal with any matter [that threatens] citizens,” in reference to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s request that security agencies monitor satellite channels and media outlets that criticize the security forces.
Lieutenant General Ata slammed BBC Arabic for covering events “based on unofficial sources.” His comments followed a quarrel between Walid al-Hili, a leader of al-Dawa Party, and Egyptian military expert Safwat al-Zayat during a talk show on the channel. Zayat had commented on the reasons for “the army’s collapse,” and al-Hili replied by asking if “the guest is an ISIS member?” adding, “are you hosting a military expert or an ISIS member?”
While Alta promised to “organize media tours for all outlets to visit the battlefields in some regions to learn the truth” and to present a daily briefing on the situation, local, Arab and international media organizations are still facing a shortage of real information amid a lack of photos and videos from the war zones.
Within this framework, the Society for Defending Press Freedom in Iraq urged security forces not to overstep their authority and to respect journalistic freedoms. “The current events reflect chaos and an unfortunate selectiveness in the warning of certain media outlets. Some channels received warnings and others have not, even though all channels were spreading rumors instead of reporting true information,” Yasser al-Salem, the society’s executive director said.
According to Salem, some satellite channels with certain political affiliations “deployed all efforts to display what happened as a Sunni revolution centered in closed Sunni districts, and broadcast reports from inside Mosul showing life going back to normal after the withdrawal of the Iraqi army, in contrast with escalating tensions in Baghdad following Ayatollah Sayed Ali al-Sistatni’s call for efficient jihad,” so “these channels received warnings.” Meanwhile, “semi-official satellite channels and those affiliated with Shia parties incited people to take up arms to support security sources, and broadcast tens of false news reports without receiving any warning from media and communication authorities or security forces.”
In the past few days, anti-government satellite channels and media outlets shed light on the collapse of the Iraqi army, and exploited the situation to slam the government while ignoring actions taken by the ISIS which formed military courts and distributed communiqués threatening to deprive Mosul’s residents of their personal freedoms.
These channels ignored their responsibilities and their mission to stand by security forces to fight terrorism.
Source: Mostafa Nasser, Al Akhbar
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