Also threatening the role of the press in Iraq are political pressures and — as in many other places — economic concerns. Many newspapers have closed and journalists have been laid off. Azzaman newspaper, which is printed in both London and Baghdad and which used to have 80 employees, cut staff in Iraq in May 2015 and was left with only 10 employees because of austerity policies and reduction of expenses.
On Jan. 24, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory warned against the “uncertain future threatening the Iraqi media institutions given the lack of funding and austerity measures,” against the backdrop of falling oil prices, which represent the main revenue source for the Iraqi economy.
Reporter Naim al-Shanoun, who works at Maalomah news agency, told Al-Monitor that Iraqi journalists’ lives and livelihoods are threatened. “Some media institutions threaten to sack journalists should they publish reports or voice opinions against their institutions’ policies,” he said.
Shanoun refused to identify colleagues who have been subjected to such threats, to keep them from getting fired.
The IJS confirmed Feb. 2 that dozens of employees at newspapers, radio stations, satellite channels and news agencies have been laid off because of the financial crisis plaguing the country.
Abdel Khaliq Imran, a judge in the Labor Court in Baghdad, told the media that the court has overturned administrative orders to expel journalists from work, calling upon those affected to file lawsuits before the court to be compensated by the institutions that have dispensed with their services.
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