Monday, March 26, 2007
New Sunni - Shia radio station with a message of peace
Media
(McClatchy Newspapers) - In Baquba, one of the most violent provinces in Iraq, two Shiites and two Sunnis kicked off their first broadcast of a new media outlet, the Independent Radio and Television Station, on Sunday. Their message is one of peace, and they hope it will help quiet the sectarian violence that has shattered their lives in the bloody province of Diyala, which has a Sunni majority.
Inside a U.S. army outpost southeast of Baquba, cut off from the outside world with Iraqi and U.S. soldiers surrounding them, with U.S. help the three men and one woman restarted the station, which once operated under Saddam Hussein’s rule and, later, as part of the Iraqi Media Network.
They’re funding comes from advertising revenue bought by the U.S. 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division in Diyala to send out coalition messages. The brigade invested $36,000 to start the station. A Global Outreach Team from the U.S. Embassy was commissioned to help. They used jumper cables and a 12-volt battery to restart the radio transmitter, and they use a tower built for Saddam to preach a message of unity.
Inside a U.S. army outpost southeast of Baquba, cut off from the outside world with Iraqi and U.S. soldiers surrounding them, with U.S. help the three men and one woman restarted the station, which once operated under Saddam Hussein’s rule and, later, as part of the Iraqi Media Network.
They’re funding comes from advertising revenue bought by the U.S. 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division in Diyala to send out coalition messages. The brigade invested $36,000 to start the station. A Global Outreach Team from the U.S. Embassy was commissioned to help. They used jumper cables and a 12-volt battery to restart the radio transmitter, and they use a tower built for Saddam to preach a message of unity.
U.S. troops provide fuel and food. Water and daily commodities must be bought into the city and delivered by the army. Now that that have appeared on TV as far west as Fallujah and south to Hilla, they can no longer walk the streets of their native Baquba. Their lives are at a standstill inside this desert outpost.
Labels: Baqouba, Independent Radio and Television Station, radio station
