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Al-Muajaha Iraq Newspaper Development Project, a Proposal

SUMMARY: To provide training and resources to a group of young, Iraqi journalists - unconnected with either the previous Ba'athist regime, or with the successor American government - in order to help them begin an independent newspaper in Baghdad, called ?Al-Muajaha, the Iraqi Witness.?(Al-Muajaha can be translated alternatively as,The Facing,?Face to Face, and "Confrontation").

Depending to some extent on funding, Al-Muajaha will be published weekly in a single issue with both Arabic and English sections, as well as being available on the web, again in both Arabic and English.

This project also hopes to become a nexus for a possible, future indymedia center (imc) in Baghdad, as the physical and human infrastructure necessary for an imc develops in Iraq. We fully endorse the guiding principles and philosophy of the indymedia movement.

MISSION STATEMENT:

Al-Muajaha is an independent Iraqi newspaper, representing all levels of Iraqi society. We aim to help the world understand Iraq, and to help Iraq understand the world.

For decades, almost all governments in the world, including our own, abused and terribly ignored the basic humanity of the Iraqi people. Al-Muajaha aims to provide an open forum for all Iraqis to freely debate current issues, and in so doing educate themselves and the world. We aim to support the legitimate desires of the Iraqi people by providing a voice for them that can reach the world, and we hope to promote understanding of the fundamental equality of all peoples and nations under both human and Divine law.

NEWSPAPER SECTIONS:

- News & Features (news & human interest stories), 2-4 pages. - Arts & Culture (to include 2 poems by local poets), 1 page. - Religion (inclusive of all faiths & sects in Iraq), 1 page. - Life Under Saddam (open submissions policy), 1/2 page. - Life Under Sanctions (open submissions policy), 1/2 page. - Community Announcements (open submissions policy), 1/2 page. - Opinion/Editorial (open submissions, as well as solicited essays), 2 pages.

EQUIPMENT/COSTS

EQUIPMENT NEEDS

- 5 computers w/Arabic language support & keyboards - 2 printers - a Xerox machine - a fax machine (once phone lines are back up) - 2 phone lines - a dedicated internet line (satellite modems to serve until phones are up) - 2 digital cameras - 2 video cameras (for web reports) - 2 file cabinets - 5 desks/chairs - a sofa & lounge chairs - an air conditioner - a fridge - a generator (even when power comes up, it's likely not going to be available at all times)

Satellite modems are $1300 each, plus $13/megabyte (downloaded or uploaded), the other items comes to $12K, by our estimate (purchasing it locally)

ADDITIONAL COSTS:

- Salaries: $50/month for 12 full-time staff, or $7,200/year

- Rent: estimated $7-12K/year

- Transportation: est. $5K/year

- Food: est. $1K/year

- Office supplies: est. $1K/year

- Utilities: est. $1K/year

- Printing Costs: 18 cents - 30 cents per issue, depending on the size of the run, and the local economy (prices are in extreme fluctuation right now). For a weekly run of 5,000 papers, at 24 cents a paper, this comes to $1,200 per week, or $62,400 a year [We are in the process of locating a more affordable printer, but this is the cost for printing at this time].

TOTAL COSTS FOR FIRST YEAR:

Estimated $99,100.

DECISION MAKING STRUCTURE:

Al-Muajaha will use a partial-consensus model for reaching all decisions. After group discussion of pending decisions, proposals will only move forward if there is full consensus on them, or if no one decides to block a decision.

All Iraqis are welcome to participate in all aspects of this project. Pro-active efforts are being made to assure equal representation of all levels of Iraqi society, as well as equal representation based on gender.

Limiting factors for participation include a lack of money available for salaries, and problems in communication and transportation stemming from the war.

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION [this section written by VitW^?]:

Voices in the Wilderness (VitW^?) is/was a grassroots campaign, based in both Chicago and London, to end sanctions against Iraq and stop the war. For almost 8 years, VitW^? brought delegations of Westerners to Iraq in order to see first hand the effects of sanctions and bombings on the Iraqi people. In our home countries, VitW^? pressured policymakers through advocacy and agitation in support of the Iraqi people. While many of the members of VitW^? come from the Christian Left, VitW^? itself is a secular organization, and VitW^??s lead organizer of this project in Iraq is a Muslim.

Though VitW^? is helping to provide advice, training and resources to this project, all decisions in the project are being made by Iraqis. All research and all writing is being done by Iraqis (although VitW^? is sometimes providing advice in English-language phrasing). Furthermore, if indymedia, or another organization with a shared philosophy of openness and consensus, would like to take over as the outside, sponsoring organization of this project, VitW^? would be happy to step aside as the lead, outside organizer. In any case, this project is and must remain solely in the hands of those Iraqis who wish to make it a reality.

More information on Voices in the Wilderness is available at: http://www.vitw.org

LOCAL ACTIVISTS

Sincerely,

The founding members of Al-Muajaha:

Faris Q. Attia
Mohammad D. Al-Jomaili
Majid A. Jarrar
Waleed M. Al-Merza
Hamsa H. Mohammad
Hosni Mohammad
Haider H. Al-Numany
Marwan Al-Samara?i

(for Voices in the Wilderness: Ramzi Kysia)

-- JacquieSoohen - 05 May 2003
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