essary pressures and turning into a mouthpiece for any particular party” (1) . Iraq has turned into a dangerously tense atmosphere in which the offices of local media agencies are often targeted in attacks. Groups affiliated with political powers or the Popular Mobilisa- tion Forces (PMF), have publicly carried out the attacks. A series of assassinations of researchers, journalists, and activities was also perpetrated. Nonetheless, no one was ever brought to justice. This situation has clearly exposed the failure of Iraqi authorities to protect journalists against serious threats even when they are warned about them in advance. In this respect, “some of Al Ja- zeera’s correspondents received a number of threats of known and unknown sources demanding blackouts on certain topics or avoid- ing details when addressing certain topics (2) ”. Field reporting in countries controlled or plagued by non- state actors and armed militias requires extraordinary individu- al courage. It also requires the deployment of various effective journalistic techniques that should not provoke sources of threat. But tactics of avoidance cannot work forever, since they fail to capture the full story. It is worth noting, in this regard, that the headquarters in Doha has always advised the Iraq-based crew to “avoid dangerous areas and situations and look for whatever may secure coverage away from putting journalists at risk”. (3) . To put this advice into action, Al Jazeera correspondents focused on two types of practice: One, to talk about the issues that may provoke armed groups in a clear manner that is comprehensible to view- ers. Two, pass information, which are believed to cause security threats, through Iraqi guests chosen by the Al Jazeera Baghdad office. In other words, those guests assume a correspondent’s role when communicating such information and analyses.
(1) Ibid.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
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