In recent times, independent media and community radios in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have focused on having interreligious and interethnic editorial staff in order to facilitate and promote the pacification of various groups that have been divided by the conflict. However, these media outlets cannot publicly criticize the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) nor denounce the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
In fact, while it is easy to open and register a radio or media outlet, it is also common to be forced to close down if the outlet does not respect the government's policy. Despite all the violations and restrictions, the informative role of independent media, especially during the war, together with the social aim of reuniting communities, continues to be essential.
"The direction of independent local radio is the same as that of Radio Salam," said Carlotta Macera, Youth Centers project coordinator for the Italian nongovernmental organization Un ponte Per… (A bridge to…), which has been present in Iraq since the first Gulf War. Macera added, "We are going to support two community radios and implement two new ones: [broadcast in] three [or] four languages and spread all the voices as a social reunification tool, this is what young people involved want to do."
The journalists of Radio Salam want to spread a message of peace and tolerance, sharing a new approach. While they are displaced citizens themselves in an Iraq still far from reconciliation, they constitute the resilient living proof of a better future.
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