Transcript
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. The occupation of Iraq may be officially over, but the battle still rages for the future. Despite hefty budgets provided for American media projects there, it seems that dollars can't buy Iraqi hearts and minds unless they're used to fix the sewage system and the electrical grid. No, it turns out only Iraqi media can win Iraqi hearts and minds, and the nunber one media outlet in Iraq right now is the 3-month-old Radio Dijla, Iraq's first independent station. Dijla is about daily life: power outages, marital problems, sports. Pop culture, freewheeling conversation, a place to complain, news you can use. What a groundbreaking concept. Ahmed al-Rikaby is the founder and director of Radio Dijla. Welcome to the show.
AHMED AL-RIKABY: Thank you for having me.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now you were recruited from London to help create the Iraqi Media Network, which was the Coalition's effort to re-start Iraqi media, and there were complaints that, from the outset, it was too much under the heavy hand of Americans. Was that why you quit?
AHMED AL-RIKABY: Well, simply I can't do my job in the Iraqi Media Network. The money were in the hands of people who knew nothing about radio and television. We started to receive orders, and there was no way of negotiating about any program or about anything.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: How did you start Radio Dijla?
AHMED AL-RIKABY: I came with the idea of creating a talk radio. This is the first talk radio, not only in Iraq, but I believe in the Arab world as well. It's like a member of a family here. First of all, we-- we speak their language. We deal with their priorities -- our priorities are their priorities. For instance, the prices of the tomato paste in the street for many people are more important than the visit of the UN representative to, to Iraq. It has more effect on their daily life. Another reason, also, for the popularity is the security situation in Iraq. Since the war, they were deprived from the possibility of enjoying the night life, so the radio is replacing the lack of social life somehow. We're taking this night party to their homes, [LAUGHTER] since they're not able to go outside.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: So it's like a gigantic party line. But what a party it is. There are reports that your station receives roughly 18,000 calls a day.
AHMED AL-RIKABY: We're creating, let's say, community feeling among the listeners. People could participate in every program. They could express their opinion freely in every program. And this is something new for them.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Your station's jingle is: Our Opinion Doesn't Count. It's Yours Which is Important. What's your agenda?
AHMED AL-RIKABY: What is our agenda? Remember, this country is not used to freedom of expression, and many times they were trying to press the host to express his opinion or her opinion. And therefore we wanted it to be clear that we would like to hear their opinion. It's not our opinion which matters.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Ministry officials often fix problems based on complaints they hear on your station.
AHMED AL-RIKABY: Let me tell you the situation of many ministers. Because of the security situation, many ministers are deprived from having a direct contact with the street. They live in very, very heavily protected areas under heavy security. So Radio Dijla is becoming for them a very important source of understanding the opinion of, of the people in the street. It is a mirror of the society here. Many ministries actually are calling us, and they're telling us we would like to explain this matter. We would like to be interviewed by you if possible. Like the Ministry of Electricity is very, very much interested in Radio Dijla. They have two representatives coming almost every day to our studios, listening to the complaints, writing down the complaints, and actually we, we've managed to sort out and to help many people and their problems.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: You said that a lot of the officials are cut off from the people because of security concerns, but on Thursday, the Independent of London reported that your station is under 24-hour armed guard. Where does your vulnerability come from?
AHMED AL-RIKABY: You never know at this place, I mean who is your enemy and who is your friend? Ordinary people are friends of Radio Dijla. We're not afraid of the government. We haven't done [LAUGHS] anything wrong. And somehow Iraq is enjoying great freedom of expression. I mean so far, there is no censorship, and--
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Wait a second, though.
AHMED AL-RIKABY: -- things are going quite okay.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: But last month the Iraqi government announced the establishment of a media committee that would impose restrictions on print and broadcast media, and those would include, quote, "unwarranted criticism of the prime minister."
AHMED AL-RIKABY: Right. However, it's still not official yet. It's still under discussion, and definitely we are worried about this. We hope that we will keep the best freedom of expression in the Arab world today which exists in Iraq now. I mean we fought Saddam Hussein not because he had a moustache, not because he, his name was Saddam Hussein. I mean we stood up against him, we fought him because of the system he created. So if we are going to create the same system again, what was the meaning of getting rid of him? If I will go back to the days of Saddam but under different slogans, under different names, then I'm not willing to accept this. Definitely, no.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now some of your presenters are quite young and new to radio, but some are from Iraq's old radio guard -- people like Majid Saleem, who hosted a late night show back when Saddam Hussein's son Uday controlled the airwaves.
AHMED AL-RIKABY: Uday would call him and ask him: Could you tell me the other half of this poem? And if he is not able to answer, they torture him. Other occasions, Uday would like to listen to a certain song, and if the song is not available, they torture him. So he spent many years like this. He is telling me now that: Now I feel that my life is starting. Under Uday I always felt that every day could be the end of my life.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Thank you so much.
AHMED AL-RIKABY: Thank you very much.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Ahmed al-Rikaby is director of Radio Dijla, the first independent talk radio station in Iraq.