It’s not easy being a BBC reporter. Newsnight’s David Lomax, for instance, has been charged with the task of reporting on the state of post-liberation television in Iraq. Whereas most of us would see this as a pretty straightforward task — just watch some Iraqi television, then tell people what it was you saw — not so if you work for the BBC.

You see, in approaching this topic, Lomax has entered an ideological minefield. On the one hand, he mustn’t make it sound as though Iraqis are happy with their freedom, but on the other he can’t realistically argue things were better under Saddam Hussein. Then there’s the enormous push he wants to give to the soft-left notion of Muslims as Noble Savages, but how to do this when they’d rather watch soap operas than stand in the street chanting ‘Death to Israel’.

Undaunted, Lomax gets down to work by considering the irony that Saddam himself, who banned ownership of satellite dishes, now isn’t permitted a TV set in his cell:

The great dictator can’t savour, for instance, Modern Day Pashas, a soap opera that goes out on the Al-Sharqiya channel for an hour every afternoon in Baghdad. It’s a satire with heavy pantomime overtones in which corruption is pilloried with exuberant knockabout.
Or perhaps Saddam might have preferred to watch the astrologer taking calls from Iraqis who are seeking advice about important decisions or events in their lives. ‘No, I’m afraid that the planets will not help. You must work hard for your examination.’

Comedy? Astrology? Oh *dear*, this can’t be good for them, can it? No matter that this sounds suspiciously like the kind of programming pumped out by the BBC’s own entertainment division in the U.K. — Surely what the Middle East needs more of are exhortations to the Global Jihad? Or, how about some dour cleric preaching for hours on the importance of the proper veiling and beating of wives?

Instead, the Iraqi people seem happier with their own, unique, version of a home makeover show:

The channel interviews families who have suffered during the war and lost their houses. It chooses one case, pays for the rebuilding of the home and makes a series about it. In a country where there are so many dangers and difficulties there is an understandable appetite for any kind of escapism.

Well, of course, it simply *must* be the difficulties and dangers Iraqis face. Not the press freedom. Or the absence of a mad dictator telling them what to watch. No. Because what sort of people would voluntarily tune in to an episode of ‘How Bombed Is Your House?’

It’s also a cheap way of filling airtime.

They noticed that, too, did they? Lomax had better watch out — In a couple of years, they’ll be giving his own network a run for its money …

… That, of course, is assuming the only kind of religious conservatives BBC reporters actually warm to don’t get their way:

From Ayatollah Sistani’s sophisticated new web site it is evident that there are conservative religious elements which might be alarmed.
The non-stop waves of pop videos and men and women being portrayed together don’t easily co-exist with Iraqis who want to ban chess and are worried about temptation.

Should we be alarmed? Well, no, not really. Because there’s an important difference between Ayatollah Sistani and other Middle Eastern theocrats: If he decides to deprive the Iraqi people of their beloved soap operas, makeovers, and, well, fun of any kind, he has to answer for it at the next election.

(Cross-posted at Rottweiler Puppy)

Said RottyPup @ 4:52 am | Permalink   

1. Can’t wait for the “Sesame Street” reruns to hit the Bagdad airwaves.

   Comment by RichardNixon — 2/27/2005 @ 9:23 am

---

2. I wonder what that would sound like in Arabic,

   Comment by Cao — 2/27/2005 @ 9:25 am

---

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Line and paragraph breaks automatic, website trumps email, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website