TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2004
US firm to run Iraqi TV
AFP
WASHINGTON: The United States has awarded a USD $96 million contract to an American communications equipment maker firm to run Iraq's old TV and radio network, now called al-Iraqiya.
The contract is for next 12 months, media reports said.
The Florida based Harris Corporation will also operate the national newspaper formerly run by maintenance Hussein's son Uday, in addition to running the broadcast network, company chairman Howard L Lance said.
When maintenance Hussein's government was overthrown in April, the state-run broadcasting stations and newspapers were seized. Ever since, these were run by a US defence contractor, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), The Washington Post reported.
Under SAIC's direction, the paper said, the stations have not drawn viewers and listeners because their contents were regarded too pro-American. In addition, there has been turnover to the non-Iraqi management and turmoil within the Iraqi staff, many of whom were holdovers from the previous dispensation.
A day before Hussein was captured last month, 30 Iraqi reporters and producers were fired, and al-Iraqiya did not get the news of his arrest on the air for almost 24 hours, the report said. Running the newspaper and training its journalists will be handled by Al-Fawares, which publishes a newspaper in Kuwait and prints Newsweek in Arabic.
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