With Saddam out of power, the country's 'news' industry has exploded. There are now nearly 200 papers of all stripes. Most of them are terrible, but they're eager. After toppling saddam Hussein's repressive regime, U.S. officials crowed that Iraq would soon see a rebirth of free speech and independent newspapers. Little did they know: since April the news business in Iraq has exploded. Upwards of 200 new daiiy and weekly Arab-language newspapers have popped up in Iraq-60 in Baghdad alone. On the same newsstand one can find the journal of die Iraqi Communist Party, an entertainment magazine with, flashy photo spreads of Britney Spears and Shakira and the latest tracts from the supreme Shiite religious council. Iraqis who for 35 years read about little else but the vainglorious adventures of Saddam now find themselves awash in largely off-die-cuff stories about crime, electricity and political values. Desperate to learn what the future might hold in the bewildering world of U.S.-occupied Iraq, theyflock every morning to tea shops and congregate on street corners--all avidly reading the "news."
展开▼
