Iraq
When the latest Iraq war finished in 2003 our chairman, Stephen Claypole, was on the first civilian flight to Baghdad. He was invited to advise the early administration – the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) – on a range of broadcasting issues.
The task was typical of the type of expert media consultancy that our principals are regularly called on to perform.
Stephen spent the spring in Iraq:
- Assessing what was needed to create an independent broadcast media in a more democratic environment.
- Facilitating the installation of booster transmitters in Baghdad and Basra for international broadcasting organisations like the BBC World Service.
- Playing a liaison role between ORHA and the Iraq Media Network (IMN), the first American attempt to restore radio and television services in Iraq. IMN came to air in a hostile environment – its personnel sometimes under armed attack.
In December 2003, Stephen hosted a conference for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at Lancaster House in London on the future prospects of the electronic media in Iraq.
DMA Media has returned to Iraq several times and maintains its contacts there.