Online Journalism News

Independent Iraqi news site pleads for funding

Independent Iraqi news site Al-Muajaha is in desperate need of funding to keep its alternative news service alive.

Al-Muajaha, which is Arabic for confrontation, was established in April this year by a small group of science college and high school students with the mission to provide news for people who seek 'the truthful perspective'. The team is not paid for its work and the site has previously been funded by grants from various international charities.

"None of us had experienced this type of work - and some of us haven’t experienced work at all," said Majid Jarrar, chief technician for the site.

"One thing that gathered us together is our desire to show the Iraqi people the truth through alternative media.

"I don't trust any news source that can be bought."

IndyMedia in Bristol provided advice and support on setting up the site, and it is now the official IndyMedia site for Iraq. Arab American academic Ramzi Kysia also provided substantial support for Al-Muajaha at the beginning of 2003, working with anti-war organisations and making personal donations to help establish the project.

Majid and his brother Raed are close friends of Salam Pax, who became well known for his blog during the war earlier this year and has also contributed to Al-Muajaha. Salam's success has inspired Majid and his family to start their own blog, which went live on 3 December.

"Salam is a well-educated guy, yet he's really a straightforward person. His blog really means a lot to me.

"And my Mum is so advanced for her generation. She has been writing blogs for years, but she writes only in Arabic as she wants her ideas to be directed toward Arabs. She thinks they need to be awakened more than Westerners do."

Al-Muajaha works from a rented office near Baghdad's Al-Mustansiriya University, but has difficulty working due to frequent power cuts. Phone lines to the office were cut when the local exchange was destroyed by US missiles during the war.

The group works for two or three days each week and also produces content for a printed newspaper. This is vital, said Mr Jarrar, as very few Iraqis have access to the internet.

The cost is also prohibitively expensive compared with the average wage, with internet cafés charging around $1.50 per hour.

"So far, Al-Muajaha is going fine both as a publication and a site, but now we have to focus more on the paper.

"It is much more important to get our reports to the Iraqi people - more important than getting the reports to the rest of the world."

See also:
http://www.almuajaha.com
http://afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com
http://dear_raed.blogspot.com

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
iraq | united states | usd | reorganization | news site | baghdad | bristol | salam pax | baghdads almustansiriya university | majid jarrar | ramzi kysia |

Sign up here for our free, daily email newsletter to get all the latest stories, jobs, tips and more.

Got a story? Email our news team: Laura Oliver; Judith Townend or telephone +44 (0)1273 384290. You can also follow us on Twitter: @journalismnews / @LauraOliver / @JTownend.