BAGHDAD—The sat phones are
lined up. The tents are in place. Dozens of languages fill the smoke
filled atrium. Every kind of technical equipment imaginable is
scattered about. The scene almost resembles an eerie version of the
quick set up for a heavy metal concert. Welcome to the Press Center
on the ground floor of the Iraqi Ministry of Information.
Over the last several weeks, low-paid Iraqi construction workers
have rubbed elbows with journalists from CNN, BBC, The New York
Times and a slew of other media outlets. The workers are halfway
through a sizable construction project to expand the Press Center to
accommodate the influx of the proverbial herds waiting for the war.
Inside the building, tiny 6’ x 6’ cubicles are now the
hottest real estate on the Baghdad market. Officially, the space
will cost you $500 a month. But space is limited and cash is flowing
from the pockets of the major networks to Iraqi officials and the
government to ensure access once the bombs start flying.
But it is not just the cubicles. Under the government guidelines,
journalists cough up a handsome sum of money to the government and
individual officials. Here are the bare minimums for journalists
operating in Baghdad:
--$100/ day fee per journalist, cameraperson, technical staff
etc.
--$150/ day fee for permission to use a satellite telephone (which
the journalists have to provide themselves)
--$50-100/ day for a mandatory government escort
--$50-100/ day for a car and driver (some networks have a fleet of
vehicles)
--$75/ day for a room at the Al Rashid Hotel
That’s already $500 and that doesn’t include the thousands of
dollars daily for each direct live satellite feed for TV networks.
Nor does it include the bribes and “tips” shelled out left and
right. Nor does it include the money handed over at border crossings
and the airport. The networks don’t like to talk about how much
they actually spend, but one veteran of the media scene here
estimated the cost for a major TV network at about $100,000 a month.
Others say that is a low estimate. Almost all of this cash (except a
few “tips” here and there) goes directly to the Iraqi
government. Once you add up the bill for the TV networks alone,
we’re talking perhaps millions of dollars in revenue a month for
the government.
There is a joke here that the major media outlets are now competing
with oil smuggling as the number one money-maker for the Iraqi
government. It is particularly ironic that while Rupert Murdoch’s
“troops” from FOX News Network rally for the war, dismissing
antiwar activists as dupes of the Iraqi regime, the “network
America trusts” is paying “Saddam” (as they refer to Iraq)
hand over fist tens of thousands of dollars every month. But stroll
down the halls of the press center and you’ll see that Rupert’s
troops have multiple battalions. He also owns Sky News (the British
version of FOX), as well as the Times of London. A bit of research
would probably find that Murdoch owns other publications operating
here as well.
FOX News reporters (and others as well) like to say “for the
benefit of the viewers” that their broadcasts are being monitored
by the Iraqi government. Fair enough. But perhaps the Murdoch Empire
should begin each of its reports or dispatches from Baghdad by
disclosing how much money they paid “Saddam” today.
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Jeremy
Scahill is an independent journalist, who reports for the
nationally syndicated Radio and TV show Democracy Now!
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