NationStates Jolt Archive

Introduction

All media in Al Anbar is state owned. There is, however, a slight variation in the amount of freedom each newspaper may have. Radio, television, and newspapers owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, are more liberal than the regular state ran newspapers. Media ran by Uday Hussein are frequently shut down for either being too liberal or too conservative. However, no matter how liberal the media gets, it never ever contradicts the government in any way.

With war looming over Kuwait, Al Anbar has stepped up propaganda to countries that are seen as supporting the enemy coalition. Several radio stations have been setup to transmit the message of Al Anbar to soldiers and people of the world, and more specifically, the countries that are against Al Anbar.

While satellites are banned, Arabic television stations from abroad are shown through domestic cable. Several stations from throughout the Middle East are rebroadcasted live by the Iraqi government to the people of Al Anbar.

Radio Stations - Government

Radio Palestine - External shortwave and FM service from Al Anbar. Transmits on 9715 and 11780 KHz, shortwave. FM service is provided by relays lined up along the Western Asia-Al Anbar border, providing continious coverage throughout the border areas. Plays a variety of popular songs, news, and calls on Western Asians to abandon their posts and return home to their family instead of dying in the desert. Also calls on the Arab population of Western Asia, especially the Palestinians, to rise up and crush the Western Asia military from within.

Radio Republic of Al Anbar - Main service of the Arab Socialist Republic. Transmits worldwide, 24/7 on several shortwave frequencies. 6715, 7595, 9500, 11785, 15395, 19350. Utilizing twelve 500kw transmitters across the country, it is able to broadcast to practically everywhere around the world. Patriotic and popular music, news, and several other different programs, such as 'Learning Arabic for English Speakers'. Also transmits specialized programs for regional consumption, including a Kurdish and Turkoman program everyday.

Holy Koran Radio - Owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday. Broadcasts domestically on several AM and FM frequencies throughout the country.

Al Shabab (Youth) Radio - Both domestic and international. Broadcasts on several different AM and FM frequencies within the country, and four shortwave frequencies outside. Uses powerful 250kw transmitters. Also relays to ArabSat, NileSat, Telstar, and EuroSat. Plays popular music, news. Owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday.

Republic of Al Anbar International - Transmits with powerful 500kw transmitters. English, Arabic, Spanish, German, French, and Russian. 24/7. Several frequencies.

Television Stations - Government

Republic of Al Anbar TV Operates four domestic television stations nationwide. Plays patriotic music, news, movies. Channels 2, 3, 4, and 5. Each channel plays different materials than the other.

Iraqi Satellite TV - For external consumption only. Transmits to ArabSat, NileSat, and Telstar. 24/7. Patriotic music, news, movies.

Al Shabab (Youth) TV - Owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday. Plays popular music videos, news, new (Western) movies, children programs. Nationwide. Occupies channels 6 and 8.


Newspapers - Government

Al Baath - Inherited from the Syrian government after unification. Nationwide. Not very popular.

Babel Newspaper - Owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday. Popular. Nationwide. Wide circulation.

Iraq Daily - English language newspaper. Popular among foreigners and English-speaking inhabitants of the country.

Al Zawra - Popular. Ran by President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday.

Al Thawra

Al Jumhuriyah

Al Qadisiyah

Al-Ba'th al-Riyadi - English language sports newspaper.

Al-Zawra, Nabd al-Shabab, Sawt al-Talabah, Al-Rafidayn, Al-Iqtisadi, Al-Ra'y, Al-I'lam, Al-Ittihad and Alif Ba are all weeklies.

Introduction - Opposition

Ever since the United States and allies were beaten by Iraq in the March/April 2003 war, opposition radio stations have been disappearing at a quick pace. Opposition groups themselves are also falling apart as more and more people accept the general amnesty Iraq announced three weeks after the war ended.

Only two groups remain with any sort of media outlets. The Iraqi National Congress (INC) and the Iraqi Freedom Front (IFF), which was made up of several small groups that thought it would no longer be feasible to operate by themselves.

Radio stations - Opposition

Voice of Free Iraq - This station is run by the Iraqi National Congress (INC). The station operates a low power 50kw shortwave transmitter in Kuwait. Station broadcasts for approximately four hours a day. The station disappeared after Iraqi forces re-entered Kuwait. During the times that it operated, it was completely jammed by Al Anbar, and did not reach anyone outside of Kuwait.

Radio Iraqi Freedom - Station operated by Iraqi Freedom Front (IFF). Also broadcasted from Kuwait, with a 75kw shortwave transmitter. Was also jammed. The only difference with this station is that it streamed its broadcasts at the website, and was able to reach a slightly wider audience, but no one from Iraq, as the site was blocked by the state ISP Uruklink. The transmissions ceased a day after Kuwait City was seized by Iraqi forces. The website, apparently hosted on a server within the broadcasting building, began to redirect people coming to the website to the website of the Government of Al Anbar.