By John Lee. Iraq has fallen in the World Press Freedom Index for 2026, ranking 162nd out of 180 countries, down seven places on last year. The result puts Iraq behind countries such as Cuba and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. First place went to Norway, with […]
By John Lee. Iraq has been ranked in 157th place out of 165 countries in the latest Human Freedom Index (HFI). Produced by the Fraser Institute and the Cato Institute, the index presents a broad measure of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. This eighth annual index uses 83 distinct indicators of […]
By John Lee. Iraq has been ranked in the eighth category (out of ten) in a major new global ranking index tracking the state of free expression. The Index Index, developed by Index on Censorship and experts in machine learning and journalism at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), uses innovative machine learning techniques to map […]
By John Lee. Iraq has fallen in the World Press Freedom Index for 2022, ranking 172nd out of 180 countries, down nine places on last year. The result puts Iraq behind countries such as Syria and Saudi Arabia, but ahead of Iran and China. First place went to Norway, with North Korea coming last. Reporters […]
By John Lee. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has ranked Iraq fifth worst in the world in this year's s Global Impunity Index. The index spotlights countries where members of the press are murdered in retaliation for their reporting and the perpetrators go free, calculating the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage […]
Training Program for Iraqi Business Journalists Reporting on their Country's Economy Business Journalists 4Change, a program to help Iraqi business journalists to report on economic reform initiatives in their country, calls for applicants who wish to report on solutions to economic problems. The application deadline is August 21st, with interviews to be held between August […]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Iraqi authorities and public to avoid trampling on journalistic freedoms after reporters were targeted while trying to cover the storming of the Iraqi parliament by supporters of Iraq's biggest opposition movement. "In times of political instability and social unrest, the media should not be targeted or become the […]
Netherlands supports UNESCO Iraq to enhance the safety of journalists The Netherlands Ambassador Michel Rentenaar and the director of UNESCO Iraq Office, Paolo Fontani, have signed the project agreement of the phase two of "Breaking the Silence: Enhance Accountability and Prosecution for Safety of Journalists and Fighting Impunity". The funding will help among others to […]
In response to the reported arrest of Al-Ahd TV reporter Hamid Majed, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued the following statement: Iraqi authorities must immediately release Al-Ahd TV reporter Hamid Majed and allow journalists to work freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 1, Colonel Tareq […]
In response to the sentencing of Iraqi Kurdish photojournalist Qaraman Shukri to seven years in prison in a secret trial, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued the following statement: "Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are making an appalling habit of sentencing journalists to prison without any regard for due process and for the rights […]
By Amnesty International. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance of activists and journalists Over the past year the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) have ruthlessly cracked down on journalists, activists […]
Iraqi Kurdistan's Authoritarian Turn: Western ally 'Discards idea of Democracy' Writing in the Financial Times, Chloe Cornish says the arrest and conviction of journalists and activists In Iraqi Kurdistan has revived concerns over a government dominated by two clans, the Barzanis and the Talabanis. Click here to read the full article (subscription required)
