IRIS, with the support of Free Press Unlimited (FPU), conducted an assessment project looking into the state of minority portrayal in Iraqi media. In consultation with local journalists, 25 media outlets (13 from Iraq and 10 from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq) were selected for monitoring over the course of four months –from March until June 2015. These outlets were selected among daily newspapers, online news agencies and monthly or bi-monthly magazines of different political, ethnic, linguistic and religious affiliations. To be sure, this report does not claim to paint an exhaustive picture of the state of media reporting on minorities in Iraq. Rather, it highlights observed trends in selected written publications, over a defined timespan, in such a way as to hint at potentially harmful media practices, in a cautionary manner.
This report presents the results and conclusions emerging from this assessment exercise, as well as recommendations for editors and journalists. It is organized in four sections. The first one presents a short, targeted overview of Iraq’s ethno-religious and geopolitical situation, with a specific focus on the minorities reported on over the course of the assessment period. Next, the 25 media outlets studied are introduced, along with their history (date of establishment, political affiliation and funding, readership and distribution, etc.). The third section details the methodology used to analyze the data collected over the course of the project and, finally, the last section presents data analysis and conclusions.
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