(Christian Science Monitor) Ilene R. Prusher - In the two weeks since Kirkuk fell, free media outlets have been busting out all over. At least five stores in Kirkuk are offering once-banned satellite dishes, selling 400 to 500 channels for about $350. An Internet cafe opened its doors; a radio station called the Voice of Kirkuk started broadcasting; a newspaper called New Kurdistan started circulating; and people are tuning into several Kurdish television channels broadcasting from the self-rule zone, an offense which in the past could have landed a person in jail, at best. Ethnic Turkmens - whose language is an offshoot of Turkish - are enjoying watching television from Turkey. "We stay up until 4 or 5 a.m. because we can't get enough," says Abbas Ali. Fox News appears to be a local favorite in Kirkuk, people say, because it has been the most supportive of the war. Working on limited resources and a tattered infrastructure, the sprouting of media outlets virtually overnight is remarkable.
2003-04-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive