Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq – “Watchdog” is a term often used to describe the role the media plays in society, and in an environment of rebuilding a nation, with corruption and evolving leadership, it becomes the cornerstone to progress.
In my current job while deployed to Iraq, I have been charged with monitoring local and national news as it pertains to my unit, Task Force Pathfinder, serving as the main effort for the army’s first “advise and assist” brigade.
To be truthful, I was unaware of the media infrastructure and capabilities I would be covering, which made me concerned what would happen when I eventually reported my findings.
I knew the first step was to do research and identify all media outlets possible for analysis. Luckily, I was assigned four interpreters who had already made connections with local venders, which provided immediate contact with newspapers and magazines. When combined with an evolving search of the internet and Iraqi satellite TV, I soon found more information than I had ever expected. Locally, I had a growing list of newspapers and TV affiliates who would post their major headlines online, making immediate access available. After close monitoring, we were even able to identify the outlets our public affairs officer could contact to build a rapport with and send press releases to, a method that has proven very beneficial.
Since information was no longer in short supply, I was then tasked to provide a translated daily news summary of the news likely to affect our operations. My shop began producing that daily report June 23 and distributing it to our leadership and the Provincial Reconstruction Teams teamed with us to build local civil capacity.
As a result of this one effort, we were no longer blind to the immediate outside. The email distribution list for it continued to grow, expanding the ways this new information could be used to make decisions.
One of those new ways was the creation of a private investment tracker. This tracker allowed us to prevent redundancy of projects and track what each province’s officials were spending their publically announced budgets on. This gave us an extra tool for ensuring that time, funds and assets were used effectively toward long-term growth.
Through this simple act, we were able to gain vital information on regionally elected and appointed leaders and could help to hold them accountable.
Consequently, the more I read, the more I developed a new-found respect for these sources. As the months passed I even noticed a change in the way the local politicians addressed these media outlets, and wondered to what extent our work might be responsible.
I had the chance to meet media directors in various provincial departments with help from a PRT, and I was impressed with the professionalism and motivation they showed in engaging media. They were using them very effectively to inform the people of the progress they were making across the province.
Unfortunately, the word only travels the distance of the medium and illiteracy is still a major issue in this region, which doesn’t ensure all success stories reach their intended audiences. Still, that didn’t deter any of the media directors from trying.
Sitting with a group of them at our dinner table, I made sure to tell them to stay the course; that it will eventually lead to further legitimization of their government, which is the fastest way towards a prosperous and free society. The government needs to maintain a posture of transparency and the media must remain objective.
