:
Tu Mar 29 -

BAD BOYZ -

*Aired twice a day, Terrorism in the Grip of Justice is a popular reality show but those firing 62mm mortars do not like it and have made the Mosul headquarters of the state channel Al-Iraqiya arguably the most dangerous posting in broadcasting...

The impact has been electric. Al-Iraqiya was once widely scorned as a dull Iraqi government mouthpiece; all that changed in January when Mosul started feeding the confessions to the main studio in Baghdad, giving the network a national primetime hit...

Akin to Jerry Springer-meets-Newsnight, it is the government's most effective propaganda against a rebellion still raging two years after a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

American officials say they have no involvement in making Terrorism in the Grip of Justice but welcome its impact...*

:: Guardian: Trial by television ::
-- By Rory Carroll --

* * * * *

Dahi Hassan, a correspondent for Khaleej Times, claims that there has been at least once instance of mistaken identity:

*The families and relatives of the Syrian citizens, who last week appeared on Iraqi state television making confessions alleging that they were Syrian intelligence officers, confirmed that those "officers" are merely leather dealers who left their shops at this small town to sell their products in the neighbouring Arab country.*

:: THE SYRIANS ON TV ::

...