Iraq: new networked news site to improve media

Editor and Publisher reports that the Reuters Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme have launched a Web site called “Voices of Iraq” that will enable Iraqi media outlets to combine their news coverage. Newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV stations can submit news items to the site and publish or broadcast items submitted by other contributors. News is currently presented in Arabic, with Kurdish and English language options to be added in coming months. Jo Weir from the Reuters Foundation explained the urgent need to improve the quality of news available to Iraqi media. Any new uncensored media that emerged since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 have “struggled to report events in a country of 26 million people where insecurity makes it risky to move around and inadequate telephones hamper communication,” Weir said. The new site facilitates exchanges in information and provides training for Iraqi journalists. Paul Eedle, a former senior editor at Reuters, directs the project.

Source: Editor and Publisher