Posted on 09/07/2006 5:42:30 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government on Thursday ordered Arabic satellite network Al-Arabiya to shut down its Baghdad operations for one month, state television reported. Al-Arabiya said Iraqi police later arrived at its offices to enforce the order.
The other pan-Arab satellite network, Al-Jazeera, had its office in the capital closed two years ago.
Al-Arabiya, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at first said its headquarters had not yet been informed of a ban, but later said on live television that police had arrived at its Baghdad offices to close its operations down.
The order apparently was issued by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet.
"We have not officially been informed about the banning and we do not know the causes. Only the cabinet knows the causes," said Jawad Hatab, the Al-Arabiya bureau chief in Baghdad.
In July, al-Maliki warned television stations against broadcasting video that could undermine Iraq's stability.
A statement by al-Maliki's office cited news reports that "capitalize on the footage of victims of terrorist attacks." He called on media outlets to "respect the dignity of human beings and not to fall in the trap set up by terrorist groups who want to petrify the Iraqi people."
The statement said TV stations should uphold the code of media ethics, or else the government will take legal action against them.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists — an independent group monitoring press freedom worldwide — condemned the decision to close the Al-Arabiya bureau.
"The arbitrary closure of Al-Arabiyas Baghdad bureau flies in the face of the Iraqi governments promise to uphold freedom of the press," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. "We call on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to rescind this ban immediately."
In November 2003, the U.S.-appointed Governing Council banned Al-Arabiya from reporting from Baghdad after it aired an audio tape said to be from Saddam Hussein, who was still at large at the time. The station was allowed to resume its work shortly afterward.
The Iraqi government closed the Baghdad news office of Al-Jazeera television in August 2004, accusing the station of inciting violence. The office is still closed but the station operates in the Kurdish-ruled area of the north.
At one time or another, Al-Jazeera has had bureaus closed in 18 countries and its signal blocked in 30.
President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also have criticized the Qatar-based station, accusing it of fueling anti-American sentiment and giving terrorists a podium. Al-Jazeera says it deals with tapes purely on the basis of news value.
Wow. Can we do that here?
Sure...
Well, at least of you're a Democrat you can get ABC to alter their programs...
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Might get in a bit o' trouble for that one! :)
Isn't it the network that American officials opt to give interviews for?
Yeah you are right. I just saw that on the
Senate Dems vs Disney thread.
They haven't have they? In any case, the ability to petition to have things removed is good. One of the networks (NBC?) was about to air a show which could have been offensive to Christians. Petitioning stopped it.
Heh...just remember, it only says "Congress shall make no law..." It doesn't say anything about pressure being brought to bear. Of course, bullying ABC like that can work both ways...the networks bow to advertising dollars, as well, and a resolute boycott of advertisers can come back to haunt ABC.
You ask can we do that here. Well, during WWII letters home were heavily censored. And President Lincoln shutdown pro-Confederate press during the Civil War. I think when a nation's survival is at stake it is reasonable to stop those who are fanning violence.
While I am usually an unabashed advocate for free speech (and note that the leaders in restricting TV coverage and dissemination are China, Cuba, Vietnam, Iran and other evil empires...)....Maybe this is a good (temporary) move by the Government of Iraq.
And we cannot imprint our own political correctness upon them.
I agree with you 100%...it's well known that some channels air videos which contain coded messages for terrorists and others, and if we're hoping for long-term stability in Iraq, then shutting down the airwaves of these outlets (temporarily) could be a very good thing.
I was just pointing out that we can't and shouldn't do it here! :)
I have no problem with legitimate petitioning....
Heavy-handed tactics by a political party, however...
What is considered "censorship" in Iraq is the law in the US.
Networks are not to show injured Iraqi civilians and civilian LEOs, nor mutilated corpses of iraqis during the evening news.
Exchange the word Iraqi with American in the above sentence and realize what gutter tabloid exploiters of death the Iraqi gov just shut down.
Within weeks all raw 9/11 footage was censored on US airwaves, the Al Aribiya was given 2 years to self censor the coverage of near daily mass murder in Iraw, yet refused to do so.
And to the obnoxious pricks at the Committee to Protect Journalists, freedom is not free, and access to locations is not without license.
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