Challenges and Opportunities: The Impact of the Press Law (2008) on the Role of Journalism in the Kurdistan Region post-2003 Item Type Thesis Authors Mawlood, Saman Jalal Rights <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by- nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. Download date 05/10/2021 09:02:11 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5370 University of Bradford eThesis This thesis is hosted in Bradford Scholars – The University of Bradford Open Access repository. Visit the repository for full metadata or to contact the repository team © University of Bradford. This work is licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. Challenges and Opportunities: The Impact of the Press Law (2008) on the Role of Journalism in the Kurdistan Region post-2003 Saman Jalal Mawlood Supervisors: Dr. Ben Roberts; Mr. David Robison Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Bradford Media School School of Computing, Informatics and Media 2011 ABSTRACT Challenges and Opportunities: The Impact of the Press Law (2008) on the Role of Journalism in the Kurdistan Region post-2003 Saman Jalal Mawlood Keywords: Kurdish Media, Journalism, Kurdistan Region, Press Law This thesis examines the role of the media in the Kurdistan Region focusing on developments since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 in order to identify the challenges which have faced journalists there, and the construction of national identity and the potential opportunities which this sector presents for shaping public opinion and strengthening the nascent democracy in the region. After tracing the history of the Kurdish media against the broader backdrop of Iraq, using an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the Kurdish media, with particular reference to regulation, examining the Press Law (2008). It concludes with a series of recommendations regarding the growth and development of new opportunities in the Kurdish media. In addition, it will present arguments to support the urgent need to develop a legal and regulatory framework which is fit-for-purpose for the media in this style democracy. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped, supported and encouraged me in completing this doctorate and to acknowledge the financial support I received from the Kurdistan Regional Government that enabled me to complete my postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom. First and foremost, my sincere thanks to my principal supervisor Dr. Ben Roberts for the constant encouragement and insightful feedback which he has given me during the last three years. I would also like to thank to my second supervisor Mr. David Robison for all the advice he has provided over the course of writing my thesis. As transfer assessor and internal examiner Dr. Mark Goodall also contributed many useful comments and suggestions which helped me greatly in the process of transforming my MPhil into a PhD and his effort in reviewing the thesis. I would also like to thank Rona Wilson, the Research Administrator of the School of Computing, Informatics and Media, for the excellent administrative support which she has given me. I would like to thank my external examiner Professor Christine Allison for her efforts in reviewing the thesis and conducting the viva. I would also like to acknowledge the support of: Dr. Anne White for her invaluable counsel and interest in the subject of my thesis; Liz Gill for help with proofreading; my English tutor, Margaret Westecott, who helped me to improve my English in the initial stages of this research, and Jennifer Rowland, the SCIM subject librarian at Bradford University, who helped me to source information for my thesis. Grateful thanks are also due to Mr. Mela Bextîar, Dr. Erselan Baîz, Mr. ‘Omer Fetaḧ, Mr. Burhan Se‘îd Sofî, Dr. Dlşad ‘Abdulrehman, Mr. Fars Ḧeme Sadq, Mr. Xelîl ‘Osman, Dr. Soran Cemal Tahîr, Dr. Karzan Ẍefûr, Dr. Megdîd Sepan, Dr. Şêrwan Celal, Mr. Necat Rostî, Mr. Hêdî Gelalî, Mr. Cutîar Qadir, Mr. Hêmn Kerîm Mamreş and Mr. Ebrahîm Cewher who have sustained me with their friendship over the course of this research. I would also like to offer my thanks to my parents who have encouraged me in my studies throughout my life and have been particularly supportive during the completion of my thesis. Finally I would like to offer my heartfelt appreciation to my ever-patient and long-suffering wife Benaz who accompanied me throughout my study in exile. iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all those journalists who work to uphold professional standards throughout their career. iv TRANSLITERATION AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE FOR THE KURDISH SORANI AND KURMANJI ALPHABETS Kurdish consonants Sorani Kurmanji IPA [B [b ﺏ [p [p پ [t [t ﺕ [c [ʤ ﺝ [ç [͡tʃ چ [ḧ [ħ ﺡ [x [x ﺥ [d [d ﺩ [r [r ﺭ [ř [r ڒ، ڕ ، ﺭﺭ [z [z ﺯ [j [ʒ ژ [s [s ﺱ [ş [ʃ ﺵ [ʕ] ‘ ﻉ [ẍ [ʁ ﻍ [f [f ﻑ [v [v ڤ [q [q ﻕ [k [k ک [g [ɡ گ [l [l ﻝ [ĺ [lˤ ڵ [m [m ﻡ [n [n ﻥ [w [w ﻭ [h [h ﻫ [y [j ی Kurdish vowels [a [aː ﺍ، ﺋﺎ [e [ɛː ە، ﻪ i [I] [u [u ﻭ [û [uː ﻭﻭ، ﯘ [o [o ۆ [ö [œ ﻭێ [î [iː ی، ﻳﯽ [ü [ʉː ﻭی [ê [e ێ This table has been adapted from Hassanpour (1992:42-43) IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... iv TRANSLITERATION AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE FOR THE KURDISH SORANI AND KURMANJI ALPHABETS ....................................................................... V TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... vi GLOSSARY OF GENERAL ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 The aim of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Methodological considerations ...................................................................................... 5 1.4 Expected research contributions .................................................................................... 7 1.5 Research aims and objectives ........................................................................................ 7 1.6 Challenges of the thesis ................................................................................................. 8 1.7 Scope and structure of the research ................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER 2: THE KURDISH MEDIA IN CONTEXT .................................................. 13 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 A brief historical overview of Iraq ............................................................................... 14 2.3 A brief history of the Kurds and Kurdistan: An Invisible Nation ................................ 16 2.4 The Kurds of the Kurdistan Region ............................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 3: THE KURDISH MEDIA ............................................................................ 32 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 32 3.2 Media in Iraq: past and present .................................................................................... 34 3.3 Kurdish print media ..................................................................................................... 39 3.4 Radio broadcasting ....................................................................................................... 64 3. 5 Television broadcasting .............................................................................................. 66 3.6 The Kurdish media in the wake of the 1991 uprising .................................................. 67 3.7 The Kurdish media from 2003 onwards ...................................................................... 75 3.8 Ongoing media-related problems and potential solutions ............................................ 80 3.8.1 Media development ............................................................................................... 82 3.8.2 The government, media and finance ..................................................................... 86 3.8.3 Language ............................................................................................................... 90 3.8.4 Education .............................................................................................................. 96 vi 3.8.5 Audiences .............................................................................................................