INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

30 April 2012. IMCK-director Judit Neurink paid a two day visit to Basrah, the south of Iraq. The goal of the trip was two sided. The Royal Dutch Shell company invited IMCK for a meeting together with fifteen journalists and experts of Shell. The oil-company gave presentations on the history of Shell in Iraq, the different contracts that have been signed, the environment, and on the relationship between the company and the consumer. The other reason is that IMCK is talking with Shell about a future cooperation. Together with Shell, IMCK wants to improve the knowledge of journalists in Iraq on oil and gas. Previously, IMCK gave workshops in Erbil on natural resources to journalists. The participants published stories on the website Iraqi Treasures . The media in Iraq are developing slowly and journalists do not cover all subjects that are important for people in a developing democracy. One of these subjects are oil and gas. For an oil rich country like Iraq, oil is hardly a...

 On 22 April 2012, Kurds celebrated the 114th anniversary of the first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan , which was issued in Egypt by Miqdad Medhet al-Bedirxan. Journalists and writers gathered for the ceremony at the Women Media and Education Centre of Rewan magazine in Sulaymaniya. Among the invitees were Stran Abdullah (Kurdistan Nwe), Dr. Sherko Man Gorie, Yahya Omar and IMCK-director Judit Neurink. Judit Neurink was invited to join a discussion in the centre about the future of the newspaper (in Kurdistan). The discussion was introduced with remarks such as that Internet is a replacement for the newspaper and that Internet misses the same power as the newspaper. The rise of digital media is of great concern to some for the future of the newspaper. Decreasing revenues through advertising and paper-selling are a big threat to the continuing existence of newspapers. So how can the future of this medium be saved? Judit Neurink noted two things that are relevant to the...