Thomas P.M. Barnett

■"Rockin' In Iraq: Locals embrace escapist fare as TV biz rises from ashes," by Ali Jaafar, Variety, 24-30 October 2005, p. 1.
■"At Mipcom, Al-Jazeera fights for global acceptance," by Elizabeth Guider, Variety, 24-30 October 2005, p. 6.

■"Homer sobers up for Mideast," by Ali Jaafar, Variety, 24-30 October 2005, p. 19.

The reality shows in Iraq are just like ours, but instead of revamping "this old house," they rebuild "this old bomb site." And Iraqi "Idol" contestants need to risk more than their egos to get up on stage.

But despite the dangers, there is no doubt that media connectivity in Iraq has emerged as the untold success story of Saddam's fall:

As the Western media focus on the uncertain results of last week's national elections, there's one story that has flown below the radar: The success of the Iraqi TV business.

Since the April 2003 ouster of Sadam Hussein, the area has seen the birth of 30 TV stations, the same number of radio stations and an estimated 180 newspapers.

The quality of the programming may be uneven, but Iraq's new media moguls have one thing in their favor; When your audience is afraid to go outside, it's good for ratings.

The immediate goals are prestige and entertainment. Entrepreneurs want to reach the people without government interference or propaganda. It's a boom town and folks are moving in.

The best bit on this: one station backed by the U.S. is repurposing Uday Hussein's vast collection of Western movies and soap operas for domestic consumption (soaps are loved the world over).

Each of Iraq's 18 provinces has its own TV station, as does "each ethnic community from the Kurds to the Assyrians to every political party." Then there's the extra dozen or so satellite providers.

As one government spokesman (Iraqi) puts it, "There is hardly a house without a satellite dish and there is hardly a neighborhood without some kind of local broadcasting."

What changes? Everything. As the article notes, "While heavily controlled state media and cultural institutions previously pushed pro-Hussein propaganda, the order of the day now is unprecendented freedom of expression."

No sat dishes were allowed under Saddam. There were 7 million sold in the first year after the invasion.

Most interesting is how young Iraqis have gone wild with text messaging.

Here's the best argument in the piece:

The long-term effects on a generation of Iraqis glued to their sets and cut off from their communities is an open question. But most Iraqis have displayed a remarkable ability to absorb cultural influences from the Middle East and the West, while retaining a uniquely Iraqi flavor.

So the revolution will be televised after all.

Watching Al-Jazeera try to go more global is fascinating, because if it wants viewers, it will have to open up its coverage and take off the ideological blinders. Lotsa Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. that the station wants to capture, but these young viewers, growing up with Comedy Central, "prefer their news delivered with tongue in cheek rather than with earnest advocacy."

Curse that Jon Stewart!

Mipcom refers to a global conference of TV nets coming together to make distro deals. Al-Jazeera wants into the U.S., but how much will it have to change to accomplish that? Well, how much did CNN have to change to become CNN Turkey (where I've appeared)?

Yes, yes, the coming Reformation will be televised--back to the Middle East.

And I, for one, will be watching.

But it's not all love and death. Watching the Simpsons invade the Middle East is equally fascinating. A Dubai-broadcaster gives Homer (now Omar Shamshoon) a make-over: no beer and no pork. Bart is badder, or should I say Badr. Oh, and no satirical references to religion-anybody's.

As always, they want the connectivity, they just want to censor the content somewhat. Inconceivable to us, but very reasonable to them. Our response should be patience. Nobody likes the fire hose when it comes to cultural change.