Iraqi media urges high turnout

By Sebastian Usher
BBC world media correspondent

With the turnout in Sunday's elections likely to be closely scrutinised, the Iraqi media has devoted intensive coverage to persuading ordinary Iraqis to get out and vote.

The elections have received widespread coverage in the media

In the last week of the campaign, Iraqi TV and radio stations have given over more and more time to an increasingly wide range of political parties and their candidates.

Interviews, press conferences, debates and phone-ins have given the best-known political figures the chance to make their case.

TV stations like the state channel al-Iraqiyah and the privately-owned al-Sharqiyah have also broadcast hours of election ads by the parties, ranging from big production numbers for the interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi List and the Shia coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, to amateurish efforts by some of the lesser-known and less well-funded parties.

It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between public service broadcasts made by the Independent Iraqi Electoral Commission and election ads endorsing a particular political party, as most share a lofty, above-politics style, appealing to people to vote as an act of everyday heroism.

The election campaign has permeated every part of the Iraqi media, providing at least the show of a nascent democracy in action

One public information ad shows an old man facing down a group of masked youths with the help of other ordinary Iraqis.

Another ad shows American tanks, helicopters and planes racing away across the desert in a blur of engine noise and dust.

When it is all gone quiet, four Iraqi children stand alone in the emptiness, surprised and then joyful, they start an impromptu kick about as a slogan rises on the screen: "They leave, we stay put."

That ad was sponsored by a group called FutureIraq.com, which is linked to the United Iraqi Alliance.

In the first weeks of the campaign, Mr Allawi used his political influence and financial resources to dominate election coverage, especially on al-Iraqiyah.

He has even been appearing in a weekly phone-in, displaying his caring side as he answers apparently unscreened calls from distraught Iraqis bemoaning their plight.

His ubiquity prompted accusations from some of his political rivals that the Iraqi media was being used as a government mouthpiece.

There have also been questions asked about just where Mr Allawi and the other parties with deep pockets are getting their money, with dark aspersions of foreign influence.

Al-Furat

In the past week, though, Mr Allawi's dominance has somewhat dimmed - as other parties have produced their election ads and got their representatives on air.

Pan-Arabic networks like al-Jazeera are the most watched in Iraq

The Shia parties have been helped by one of the latest newcomers to the Iraqi media scene, a TV station called al-Furat.

It provides a steady stream of voices supporting the Shia coalition and making the case for people to vote.

In spite of all this coverage, which includes the odd attempt to explain the complexities of Sunday's vote, it is not clear how much effect Iraqi TV stations will have on Iraqis' voting decisions.

The pan-Arab TV stations like al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya are still the most watched in Iraq.

Interestingly, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya has screened many of the Iraqi election broadcasts - particularly those for Mr Allawi's party.

This will have considerably have increased Iraqis' exposure to this material.

Al-Jazeera for its part has refused to screen paid-for election campaign ads.

Its relationship with the present Iraqi government is in any case a difficult one, with its Baghdad office closed down by the authorities last year.

Mini-dramas

But whatever its effect turns out to be, the election campaign has permeated every part of the Iraqi media, providing at least the show of a nascent democracy in action.

Even ostensibly non-political programming can carry a political message. The latest edition of a popular quiz programme on the Baghdad-based Radio Diljah posed questions like this: "Which is better, a preset democratic model or one that is in harmony with Iraq's culture?"

The station has also been broadcasting mini-dramas promoting the forces of security as the election looms.

In one, a child asks his father, a policeman, why he goes to work at night.

His father replies: "We go to guard Iraq when the people are asleep and keep it stable so that the heroic Iraqi people will establish a free country, a democratic, developed and safe Iraq, for us and for you, the new Iraqi generation."

His son hugs and kisses him saying: "Oh, you are the best daddy in the world."