Long Stifled, Iraqis Make Most of Chance to Vent on Talk Radio

NY Times | Aug. 31, 2004 | SABRINA TAVERNISE

[el_texicano]

August 31, 2004 THE AIRWAVES

Long Stifled, Iraqis Make Most of Chance to Vent on Talk Radio

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 26 - A housewife calls to talk about a broken sewer pipe. A student calls to talk about a lost love. A shopkeeper calls to say what he thinks of the violent insurgency that has swept his country.

The callers have reached Iraq's first talk radio station, Radio Dijla, which opened in April and has been putting Iraqis' opinions directly on the air, mainlining democracy from a two-story villa in central Baghdad for 19 hours a day.

In all, about 15 private radio stations have sprung up since the American occupation began, but Dijla, Arabic for Tigris, is the first to serve only talk. The station is one of the most listened-to in Baghdad, according to its employees, a claim that appears to have merit, judging by its broad following among the city's taxi drivers, housewives, students and late-night listeners, who tune in to a night talk show about relationships.

The station receives an average of 185 calls an hour, far more than it can handle, according to its owner, Ahmed al-Rakabi, who said he planned to purchase more telephone lines to accommodate callers.

Most calls are about the nuts and bolts of life. Many public services have not recovered since the American occupation began more than a year ago. Daily power failures persist. Piles of trash are heaped on city streets. In poorer areas, leaky sewage pipes taint water supplies.

"Iraqi citizens have big problems, but nobody listens to them," said Haidar al-Ameen, 34, a businessman, who listens to Dijla while driving. "If I have no gun, there is no one who is going to listen to me. The government has no time to listen."

The station forces the government to make time. Local and federal officials come as guests and are grilled by listeners. The talk shows result in uncomfortable situations, which would have been unheard of in the time of Saddam Hussein, when government officials were royalty and ordinary citizens were mere supplicants who were easily ignored.

On a recent Thursday, callers from the Mansour neighborhood here questioned its local government leader, Ali Laaibi, about one of life's basic necessities.

"Why aren't there any garbage trucks?" a woman asked in an urgent voice. "It's been so long since anyone came to take out the garbage."

Another woman added, "Please, I don't know where to throw the garbage," and said she had even followed someone she had mistakenly thought was a garbage collector.

Mr. Laaibi squirmed, trying to reassure the callers that he did in fact have a plan. "We've got 13 million garbage bags and we're going to give them out to people," he said.

Beyond easing the frustrations of daily life, the station provides a real chance for Iraqis to talk publicly about politics for the first time in decades. Listeners' calls open a window onto the lives of Iraqis, whose opinions often go unheard in the frantic pace of bombings, kidnappings and armed uprisings.

"After 35 years of people not being able to say what they wanted, we need something that can translate our feelings," said Imad al-Sharaa, a news editor at the station.

One such program was broadcast June 30, the day before Mr. Hussein first appeared in court. The program director and host, Majid Salim, asked listeners what they wanted to see happen to him. The answer was something of a surprise for Mr. Salim.

"Most people wanted him executed," Mr. Salim said.

Another time, he asked listeners what they thought about the insurgency that has roiled Iraq, claiming most of the energies of the new interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and putting the American occupation in danger of failure.

"We asked them, is it terrorism or is it resistance," he said. "A very large proportion, almost 100 percent, said terrorism. They did not like it."

In the time of Mr. Hussein, Iraqi stations other than the official state station were forbidden. Even so, dedicated listeners like Mr. Ameen secretly tuned in to the Voice of America and the BBC. Those days are still fresh for Mr. Salim, who was a host at a station called Youth Radio run by one of Mr. Hussein's sons. Callers were prerecorded, and content was censored.

"Now I'm free to say anything I want," Mr. Salim said.

The radio's staff is overwhelmingly young, which Mr. Salim said was a policy of the station from its inception in April. Women in hejabs, the Islamic headdress, and high heels click around the office. Sound engineers move mice at computers.

Employees like Mr. Sharaa, who is 26, bring a fresh sense of optimism to the station. He also writes for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London. He said he had been interested in politics from the age of 12, but was not able to apply any of that knowledge until now.

"Saddam Hussein wanted to destroy educated people," he said over a bowl of soup in the radio station's kitchen. "I wanted people to be able to hear voices. We wanted to show people that Iraqis are able to learn languages and work on the Internet."

The station was started with seed money from the Swedish government. Its founder, Ahmed al-Rakabi, the former chief of the American-financed Iraqi Media Network, was born in Prague in 1969, after his family was forced to leave Iraq to escape repression under Mr. Hussein.

On the station's first day, Mr. Salim simply sat at the microphone and asked listeners what they wanted to talk about. Now, in addition to the government official call-in shows, the station has programs in which lawyers answer questions. It also has a program led by clerics, both Sunni and Shiite, which invites callers to discuss religious differences.

The late-night show in which people call in to dedicate songs and discuss their relationships is particularly popular. The topic is a racy one in Iraq, which has become more conservative since the 1980's, when Mr. Hussein, in an effort to appease religious leaders here, required stricter adherence to religious rules.

One night a few weeks ago, a woman called to confess that her boyfriend of four years had just married her closest friend, after she introduced them several weeks before, Mr. Salim said. Listeners called to offer sympathy for the betrayal.

Mr. Ameen welcomes such public heart-to-hearts.

"Let everyone talk," he said. "All of Iraqis in different lines must talk, must talk under sun, not in secret."

Zainab Hussein contributed reporting for this article.

[el_texicano]

Sounds like an opportunity for someone to make some money doing the trash collection.

[el_texicano]

Exacty, the less people are kept in the dark about each other, the better understanding and possibly even tolerance for each other there will be.

[McGavin999]

Best thing in the world that could happen to them. Iraqis are taking to liberty like ducks to water. I keep hearing people say they can't handle democracy, yet they have already had local elections (all their local council have been democratically elected) and they attend classes on democracy. They have already chosen their own council to advise the interim government, and are anxious for their elections in January.

[doug from upland]

Excellent.

[MplsSteve]

I believe that there are some Iraqis out there who are probably thinking the same thing...

"Hey, I can make a lot of money at doing this". They'll get some friends and family members together and start up something local.

I wish the Iraqi people well in their transition...except for the soccer team!

[AngryJawa]

Excellent.

I'm honored, Sir.

Add any bumper stickers today? 8^)

[el_texicano]

You nailed it. Tbe better educated they become, the stronger they will be to run their own country. It really does give you hope to see this type of thing take place.

[Barlowmaker]

"Hello Mr. Salim. I'm a long-time listener, first-time bomber..."

LOL

[doug from upland]

No new bumper stickers, but over the weekend a guy used my suggestion for his protest sign against Barbara Boxer ---

ABORT THIS FUNDRAISER

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Bump!

[hellinahandcart]

Heh. Can't help you, I got married to one of the other people you pinged and moved out of state with him.

So I don't even have to look at the New York Times in the trash cans anymore. ;D

[nicollo]

Magnificent news! Freedom of expression is paramount to self-government. No mistake that it came in the first slot in the American Bill of Rights. As Milton understood long ago, truth cannot be found without free expression of ideas, right or wrong.

Along with free commerce, communication, be it by the internet, radio, or print media, is a crucial freedom without which democracy cannot exist. One of the reasons terrorism exists is that those countries that foment it stifle civilized discussion and dissent. Public venting is the safety-valve of a free and sane society.

As bad as are the NYC protesters, it is by this outlet of public protest that relieves them of some percieved necessity for worser acts. There will always be that fringe that cannot act within accepted boundaries, but thanks to the right of expression for the rest, those who go beyond remain in the far fringes.

[billiamy]

Here is a link to the story, republished by the Tacoma News Tribute.

[el_texicano]

Great news!! And super congratulations on gettin hitched. Best wishes to both of you. (I have a suspicion as to who that "other" might be).

[hellinahandcart]

(I have a suspicion as to who that "other" might be).

Well, it ain't NYC GOP Chick.

[el_texicano]

But, you know, I'm worried now. If you are gone, who's gonna look after NYC_GOP_Chick and keep her in line since you've moved away... 8~}

[SauronOfMordor]

Before talk radio, the leftist media was able to make conservatives feel isolated. That's no longer the case.

Talk radio is the true "free press" that's needed for the continued existance of a free State

[Spirited]

Thank you so much for this post.

It is one of the more hopeful things that I have seen in an age. That kind of activity is a testimony to an earnest on the freedom that Nation may now enjoy.

I pray that it explodes over the entire Nation.

[NYC GOP Chick]

But, you know, I'm worried now. If you are gone, who's gonna look after NYC_GOP_Chick and keep her in line since you've moved away... 8~}

Nobody. I'm incorrigible. :)

[Pharmboy]

Ern, this was above the fold, on the left side on page one. With a picture.

Jamie Scott-Long for The New York Times
Hassan Aziz Ali is the host of a call-in
program on Dijla talk radio.

This is my favorite excerpt which should be read by every individual in the world that has had a problem with our Iraqi incursion:

One such program was broadcast June 30, the day before Mr. Hussein first appeared in court. The program director and host, Majid Salim, asked listeners what they wanted to see happen to him. The answer was something of a surprise for Mr. Salim.

"Most people wanted him executed," Mr. Salim said.

Another time, he asked listeners what they thought about the insurgency that has roiled Iraq, claiming most of the energies of the new interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and putting the American occupation in danger of failure.

"We asked them, is it terrorism or is it resistance," he said. "A very large proportion, almost 100 percent, said terrorism. They did not like it."