The challenges of professional responsibility in the Iraqi press after April 2003 (Draft charter to spare journalists the dangers of engaging in incitement to violence and armed conflict)

Abstract

Iraqi press lived during the past years the most difficult and most complex conditions. It has faced unprecedented challenges that hit the workers of this field. This needs a scientific pause that put things straight and keeps a way from wasting more opportunities and precious sacrifices. So among many necessary things there is a need to invite journalists to adhere to their professional responsibilities and to extract a binding charter to avoid the risk of being as a cause or participate in it, in any form: such as in armed conflicts or employ their pens in spreading modern patterns of hatred and exclusion. through a time where their country is in greatest need for forgiveness atmosphere and reconciliation that can’t be achieved only through adherence to the rules of professional ethics that are based on balance, fairness, accuracy and objectivity. As well as avoid the threat of closure of their institutions as a result of the weight of the required financial compensation in cases that are held against the departments of newspapers or some of its staff. We propose in this research to put project responds to the Charter that respond to the deseves of ingredients press and represents a common denominator between them. We believe that the formulation of this Charter as this and for this sector can’t be limited to journalists only. It is divided into sections, the professional section is the wider but it forms only one part. Other parts distributed between the political, security and governmental legislative and executive, and each part we put its characterizations and requirements, have a role in promoting the presence and effectiveness of this Charter. The modest attempts that examined suggestion of this type did not succeed because the lack of awareness of these interactive parts of our project , which aims to foster a spirit of professional responsibility and keep workers in press field far from dangers of engaging in incitement to violence and armed conflict . those attempts - that have nature of urgency - is merely required or likely ingredient professional above all else ignoring the fact that the profession of press in Iraq exposed to organized threats made it lost, at a stage of blind bloody violence, elements of stability, particularly the separation of biases and self- partisan, sectarianism and regionalism when formulating the contents of media reports. In light of the above puts the draft Charter, which is based on the standards and professional traditions some foundations adopted from the Iraqi experience and its interaction and difficulties so as to contribute to end the crisis of rupture between the profession and the fact depending on the enough surroundings of what is happening in our environment through two topics, the first paints a retrospective vision of the journalist scene that witnessed the struggle of press mainstreams on the truth on one hand and on the mechanisms and regulations posed on other hand, after April 2003 .while The second topic is dedicated to explain the draft of charter , which we described as the primary. It aims at creating professional responsibility from the objective challenges in Iraq. The proposed project is keen to move away from floating theoretical propositions to present a number of recommendations, observations and suggestions which are able to achieve the desired goal. Putting these perceptions, the researcher aspires enriching his topics through discussions and studies of all parties concerned with this problem till reaching the formulation of a comprehensive vision to address the professional and install policies that based on the work of Iraqi press in the future.