BOB GARFIELD: From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Despite Iraqi assurances that elections will take place on January 30th, it's unclear who will be there to report on them. Much of the foreign media stay sequestered in the few remaining secure areas, sending Iraqi fixers to do their reporting, and it's these fixers and home grown Iraqi reporters who are at the greatest risk. Dozens of Iraqi journalists have been killed on the job since the war began, and this week, as Prime Minister Allawi declared portions of Iraq too dangerous for Iraqis to vote, it's clear that covering the elections will be no less risky. Hiwa Osman directs the training of Iraqi journalists for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. A poll conducted by his group found that most Iraqis believe they'll be voting for a president -- not for a 275-seat interim national assembly.

HIWA OSMAN: There is a huge information gap here in Iraq. Sources of news about Iraq are divided into two categories -- international media outlets. That includes the Arab satellite channels and also the international media outlets like NPR and BBC and others, and especially those who have Arabic service as well. Iraqis rely on them for news, but they feel that the Iraqi story is seen with a Washington eye or with a London eye. The audience are the people who live in the United States or in, or in the West in general. And, as far as the Arab satellite channels are concerned, with every day that passes, their Sunni Islamist agenda is becoming more and more prominent in their reporting. Quite a few Iraqis today say that these Arab satellite channels and other Arab media outlets are having a nervous breakdown, because Iraq has lost its Sunni Arab identity. Iraq is neither fully Arab nor fully Sunni. It's Shiite and Kurdish and also Sunni. So, as a result, there is a serious gap. The public service broadcaster that was set up by the Coalition Provisional Authority has failed miserably and--

BROOKE GLADSTONE: I think they subcontracted that service out to a Lebanese media company, didn't they?

HIWA OSMAN: It was initially contracted out to an--American outlet, which is called Harris. I think they, they are a defense contractor. They then subcontracted it to a Lebanese company, and most of the content is heavily influenced by Lebanese culture and not Iraqi culture -- knowing what type of information do Iraqis need seemed to be impossible for the Lebanese managers of that station.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So Hiwa, what you're describing is a kind of landscape of shadows where the average Iraqi can either get an American slant or a British slant or a Lebanese slant. In other words, they can find everybody's take except one that they themselves can use.

HIWA OSMAN: Exactly. I mean to know what the situation is in Iraq, you have to buy almost 10 newspapers in Baghdad; you have to listen to 5 or 6 or even 10 radio stations to find out what the real picture is in Iraq. The other Iraqi outlets, apart from the Iraqi public service broadcaster are the political party media outlets. Again, the journalists who work there, most of them are still suffering from the Baathist hangover. They are still operating in the same old ways. To them, it's only a new sheriff in town. They praise the new party. They praise the - maybe the prime minister or the president. You know, in every society, media or journalism should reflect society's dialogue with itself. In Iraq, so far, for over 35 years, it's been a society of monologue. It's not a society of dialogue. That's why all these individual outlets have not been able to break that norm and start a true dialogue within society or debate.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So let's get down, finally, to the last two weeks of this month. A lot of the details of the upcoming election are being kept a secret to protect the candidates. In fact, even the candidates' names, in many cases, are being withheld. You can only vote for the party. How are your journalists getting around this problem, and how is the potential Iraqi electorate getting around it?

HIWA OSMAN: Well, I think Iraqis are not going to only vote for the party. They will be voting for their ethnic identity, and I think this election is repeating the mistake that took place 80 years ago, when the Iraqi state was put together. Today, in Iraq, a Kurd will vote for the Kurdish list, a Shiite will vote for the Shiite list, and a Sunni will vote for the Sunni list, if they decided to take part in the election. Every individual in Iraq will have to make a decision on his or her identity, and I think that will end the Iraqi identity of the individuals who live within the borders of what's called today Iraq. For this reason, we are planning to send our reporters to almost all of the cities. I think we will do the story from areas where the international journalists cannot get to. We are hoping to get the stories from neighborhoods, from real families. Our reporters, because they are from the neighborhood, the average Iraqi individuals feel more comfortable telling them the actual story.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Is there any way that the rest of us will get a chance to hear what the Iraqis really think?

HIWA OSMAN: For the duration of the election, we are planning to provide a daily coverage of events from around the country. I think the plan is, for - with the help of local partners - we will have an English service for the international community, a Kurdish service for the Kurdish speakers of Iraq, and an Arabic service for the Arabic speakers of Iraq.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: And where can our listeners log on to that?

HIWA OSMAN: It's www.iwpr - the Institute for War and Peace Reporting - iwpr.net.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Hiwa, thank you so much.

HIWA OSMAN: You're welcome.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Hiwa Osman is an editor and training director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and he spoke to us from Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan.