[ZESTMedia] Iraqi stations launched online by JumpTV

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:45:29 -0800

 
From Monsters and Critics.com
Tech News
Iraqi stations launched online by JumpTV
By Stokely Baksh
Jan 31, 2006, 19:00 GMT
 
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Starting in February, five independent Iraqi broadcast stations will be streamed online through a partnering up with the New York-based online TV service JumpTV.
Calling itself the world`s leading online television network, JumpTV has over 100 channels from nearly 50 countries appealing especially to expatriates from countries including India, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe.
\'TV is going where people have been talking about 10 to 20 years ago and that`s convergence -- it`s the new media-centered PC,\' said Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, president of JumpTV. \'We`re happy and proud to advise these stations in their first steps in a global innovation.\'
Independent Iraqi stations include Al Baghdadia, Al Fayhaa, Alsumaria, Beladi TV and AldiyarSat, which in particular broadcasts gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Other stations produce shows resembling American pop cultures shows such as American Idol and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Also, JumpTV is still in negotiations with two other stations in the country, as the company looks to expand its service in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
While the company did not give exact numbers for subscribers since it started operations in 2000, its primary subscriber base is in North America and Western Europe, 62 percent in the United States and 19 percent in Europe.
\'The stations will help set the image of Iraq through the eyes of Iraqis rather than the eyes of the foreign media,\' the head of JumpTV said. \'It will give the world a different view of Iraq; most of the world sees Iraq as car bombs, insurgency, turmoil, a place of instability.\'
According to Tuzman, while some stations may have agendas, they ultimately represent the views of a number of ethic groups as well as promoting democracy and culture that will reach out to the diaspora of Iraqis abroad.
\'People who are living away from home are people who want TV from home,\' Tuzman said, \'that`s a universal phenomenon.\'
Moreover, he says the stations will propel the political community awareness of the development of the new Iraqi government.
And while the company does not condone terrorism or violence, its goal is not to censor the stations.
\'Personally, before the shift in Iraq, I was expecting a pessimistic future for the country, but now there is optimism and excellent entrepenuerism,\' he said. \'I think (independent media like these) is better for reconstruction that riding around in humvees to build bridges.\'
American University Professor and Middle Eastern expert Edmund Ghareeb said the broadcasts are still too recent to know their effect on the progress of the country.
According to Ghareeb, the Iraqi media has become more free and diverse, now that a flood of news and entertainment channels are being made available to the public.
But despite this flood of new channels, he says Iraq`s news media needs to mature given the country`s chaotic state with existing gaps between highly qualified professionals and those with little background in the field. Many times, journalists are still intimidated or killed, he said.
However, Ghareeb notes that while the Iraqi media will find its niche among supporters, it must continue to stay focused on Iraqi issues and topics, thereby competing effectively with its international media counterparts, as it continues to mature, gain resources and become professional.
More importantly, he says the media must play a watchdog role above anything else.
\'It`s very important for the Iraqi media to take on a watchdog role, not simply a mouthpiece for the Iraqi government,\' Ghareeb said. \'No doubt, if it is to transform or help in transforming the political environment and contribute to the process of democratization, it must raise issues of concerns involving the people.\'
It is this new freedom of the press that JumpTV hopes to bring to Iraqi expatriates around the world.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
 


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