PressEthic

As if risking life and limb to get a story weren’t enough, Iraqi journalists also have to worry about being criminalized for publishing same story, if it contains anything critical of the government.

A New York Times story describes how Iraqi law that limits what journalists can publish to stories that don’t make the guys in charge look bad.

Under a broad new set of laws criminalizing speech that ridicules the government or its officials, some resurrected verbatim from Saddam Hussein’s penal code, roughly a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials in the past year.

While some news agencies and reporters continue their work, others have opted to align themselves with government policy.

Last month, more than 70 news organizations signed a nine-point pledge supporting the national reconciliation plan of Prime Minister Maliki, promising not to use inflammatory statements or images of people killed in attacks, and vowing to “disseminate news in a way that harmonizes with Iraq’s interests.” Days later, the police barred journalists from photographing corpses at the scenes of bombings and mortar attacks. Since then, policemen have smashed several photographers’ cameras and digital memory cards.

However, it’s not fair to sneer at the Iraqi government as a suppressor of speech. The U.S. military is holding its share of “suspicious” journalists too.

Remember that Iraqi photographer and AP employee Bilal Hussein has been held in custody for five months, without charges, by the U.S. military.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, U.S. reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada are looking at jail time for refusing to reveal their sources, a good reminder of the limits of press freedom here at home.