The dynamics of Iraq\u2019s media: ethno-sectarian violence, political Islam, public advocacy and globalization

A recurring theme in debates on the future of Iraq is that the state is facing an imminent civil war among ethnic Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs, and among the Sunni and Shi’a Muslim sects. As tensions continue to escalate, the Iraqi media will play a crucial role in these developments. The pluralization of a private media sector in post-Ba’athist Iraq has served as a positive development in Iraq’s post-war transition, yet this has also allowed for the emergence of local media that are forming along ethno-sectarian lines. The Iraqi media have evolved to a stage where they now have the capability of reinforcing the country’s ethno-sectarian divisions. This policy paper examines the evolution and current state of Iraq’s media and offer recommendations to local Iraqi actors, as well as regional and international organizations as to how the media can counter employment of negative images and stereotypes of other ethno-sectarian communities and influence public attitudes in overcoming such tensions in Iraqi society

Toward an Understanding of Media Policy and Media Systems in Iraq: A Foreword and Two Reports

In the avalanche of analyses about what went wrong in Iraq, one area should be of particular interest to communications scholars: the development of a media system in Iraq. The emerging media system incorporates many significant strands: the conflict-related and post-conflict actions concerning media policy, the considerable growth of faction-related and entrepreneurial broadcasters after the conflict, the efforts by interests in the region (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and others) to affect the media environment, interventions by the United States and other Western countries, and their complex and often inept media-related reconstruction initiatives, the effort of non-government organizations (NGOs) to repeat or adopt practices from other conflict zones. There\u27s a tendency in the communications studies literature to be concerned with particular U.S.-centric frames of discussion: access by Western journalists to information, depiction of the United States on Al-Jazeera and other satellite broadcasters, the combination of media and Islam as a mode of altering general public attitudes. I focus here — as an introduction to the two accompanying papers — on the emerging structure of media or media influences domestically in Iraq to understand the influence of the successor to Saddam\u27s state television, the relationship between external state-sponsored influences, and pluralism within, and what consequence media policy or subsidy and private or party patronage has had on media institutions there. Finally, it will become increasingly important to understand the relationship between these media institutions and the actuality of continuing conflict and search for political solutions within Iraq. This Occasional Paper includes two reports. The first is a paper written by Ibrahim Al-Marashi, one of the few scholars systematically tracking media developments within Iraq. Dr. Al-Marashi was a Visiting Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and has, for the last year, been an Open Society Institute (OSI) Policy Scholar at the Center for Policy Studies at Central European University in Budapest. He has recently joined the faculty at Koç University in Istanbul. The second was commissioned by the Republic of Iraq Communications and Media Commission (CMC), the agency established first under the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) then maintained by the Iraqi governing authorities, and presented at a conference at UNESCO in January 2007. The report is the result of a contract between the CMC and the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research in London

Toward an Understanding of Media Policy and Media Systems in Iraq

Part 1: Policy Recommendations Concerning Broadcasting in Iraq- Communications and Media Commission of Iraq This study was commissioned by the Communications and Media Commission of Iraq (CMC) as part of its efforts to stimulate debate on ways to improve the broadcasting sector in Iraq. The most immediate goal of this document is to describe the current regulatory framework in Iraq and to make policy recommendations for change for use by the CMC, Iraqi policy makers and international and local donors and implementing organizations. This draft was presented at a conference on Iraqi media funded by the CMC and co-hosted by UNESCO and UNDP, with the support of Official Development Assistance of Japan and the European Union. This conference took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in January 2007. A future goal of the study will be to provide a snapshot of the Iraqi broadcasting sector as it is today. A more comprehensive version of this study addressing this aim is being prepared and is to be published by the CMC at a later date. The subsequent draft will take into consideration comments submitted on this draft. It is important to note that the CMC’s commissioning and publication of this report does not mean it endorses its content or its recommendations. It remains a working document pending further discussions. The CMC would like to express its gratitude to the Stanhope Centre for undertaking this important study in very challenging circumstances. Part 2: The Dynamics of Iraq’s Media- Ibrahim Al-Marashi A recurring theme in debates on the future of Iraq is that the state is facing an imminent civil war among ethnic Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs, and among the Sunni and Shi’a Muslim sects. As tensions continue to escalate, the Iraqi media will play a crucial role in these developments. The pluralization of a private media sector in post-Ba’athist Iraq has served as a positive development in Iraq’s post-war transition, yet this has also allowed for the emergence of local media that are forming along ethno-sectarian lines. The Iraqi media have evolved to a stage where they now have the capability of reinforcing the country’s ethno-sectarian divisions. This policy paper examines the evolution and current state of Iraq’s media and offers recommendations to local Iraqi actors, as well as regional and international organizations, as to how the media can counter employment of negative images and stereotypes of other ethno-sectarian communities and influence public attitudes in overcoming such tensions in Iraqi society

The Unexpected Aftermath of Operation 'Iraqi Freedom'

As Operation Iraqi Freedom has come to a close, the US has declared victory in achieving its objectives. Given the rapid pace of this campaign, most analysis focused on the course of events, with little academic and often inaccurate assessment of the war and its aftermath in Iraq. Such assessments are crucial when addressing the question of whether Iraq will survive as a viable state, as well as what form it will take. Faulty forecasts about Iraq's future, combined with failing to understand its internal political dynamics could have disastrous effects on both the Iraqi people and the American and UK forces stationed there

Media in the Peace-Building Process: Ethiopia and Iraq

Within the broad context of the major issues facing the international development community, Public Sentinel: News Media & Governance Reform focuses on the performance of the news media as an institution in addressing the challenges of governance. The book seeks to consider three related issues: What ideal roles should media systems play to strengthen democratic governance and thus bolster human development? Under what conditions do media systems actually succeed or fail to fulfill these objectives? What policy interventions work most effectively to close the substantial gap which exists between the democratic promise and performance of the news media as an institution

Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Thrombocytopenia

Thrombocytopenia is a medical condition where blood platelet count drops very low. This drop in platelet count can be attributed to many causes including medication, sepsis, viral infections, and autoimmunity. Clinically, the presence of thrombocytopenia might be very dangerous and is associated with poor outcomes of patients due to excessive bleeding if not addressed quickly enough. Hence, early detection and evaluation of thrombocytopenia is essential for rapid and appropriate intervention for these patients. Since artificial intelligence is able to combine and evaluate many linear and nonlinear variables simultaneously, it has shown great potential in its application in the early diagnosis, assessing the prognosis and predicting the distribution of patients with thrombocytopenia. In this review, we conducted a search across four databases and identified a total of 13 original articles that looked at the use of many machine learning algorithms in the diagnosis, prognosis, and distribution of various types of thrombocytopenia. We summarized the methods and findings of each article in this review. The included studies showed that artificial intelligence can potentially enhance the clinical approaches used in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of thrombocytopenia

Applying refinement to the use of mice and rats in rheumatoid arthritis research

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful, chronic disorder and there is currently an unmet need for effective therapies that will benefit a wide range of patients. The research and development process for therapies and treatments currently involves in vivo studies, which have the potential to cause discomfort, pain or distress. This Working Group report focuses on identifying causes of suffering within commonly used mouse and rat ‘models’ of RA, describing practical refinements to help reduce suffering and improve welfare without compromising the scientific objectives. The report also discusses other, relevant topics including identifying and minimising sources of variation within in vivo RA studies, the potential to provide pain relief including analgesia, welfare assessment, humane endpoints, reporting standards and the potential to replace animals in RA research

Formyl Peptide Receptor as a Novel Therapeutic Target for Anxiety-Related Disorders

Formyl peptide receptors (FPR) belong to a family of sensors of the immune system that detect microbe-associated molecules and inform various cellular and sensorial mechanisms to the presence of pathogens in the host. Here we demonstrate that Fpr2/3-deficient mice show a distinct profile of behaviour characterised by reduced anxiety in the marble burying and light-dark box paradigms, increased exploratory behaviour in an open-field, together with superior performance on a novel object recognition test. Pharmacological blockade with a formyl peptide receptor antagonist, Boc2, in wild type mice reproduced most of the behavioural changes observed in the Fpr2/3(-/-) mice, including a significant improvement in novel object discrimination and reduced anxiety in a light/dark shuttle test. These effects were associated with reduced FPR signalling in the gut as shown by the significant reduction in the levels of p-p38. Collectively, these findings suggest that homeostatic FPR signalling exerts a modulatory effect on anxiety-like behaviours. These findings thus suggest that therapies targeting FPRs may be a novel approach to ameliorate behavioural abnormalities present in neuropsychiatric disorders at the cognitive-emotional interface