Ground-Level Election News from the People of Iraq

On January 30 we will be providing coverage of Iraq’s elections at a conference in Washington, DC. The 2 hour event will begin at 2pm (Eastern).

The event will provide a complete picture of Iraq’s elections from the point of view of the Iraqi people and expert commentators. The event will be based on reports, video and photos received from Friends of Democracy correspondents and staff in Iraq. News and information will also come into Friends of Democracy from Iraqi bloggers (using SoA’s Arabic blogging tool), from the Iraqi people via email and from other local Iraq media.

This will provide a unique, ground-level view of Iraq’s elections – direct from the people of Iraq. The event will be streamed on the Internet and we are working to have the event televised on C-SPAN. Companion web sites are available in English (http://www.friendsofdemocracy.info) and Arabic (http://www.friendsofdemocracy.net)

Iraq’s elections are an historic event. Major networks and newspapers are likely to provide limited coverage that highlights the expected violence in certain parts of the country. Our goal is to provide a more complete and accurate picture, providing reports and perspectives from all corners of the country.

Major elements of the program include:

• Live panel in Washington
• Correspondents reporting live from Iraq on the phone
• Video and photos from throughout Iraq

Commentators and participants include: Ahmad Al Rikaby, Conference Host, Founder and President, Radio Dijla (Iraq’s first talk radio station) Entifadh Qanbar, Special Envoy of the Iraqi National Alliance Ghassan Atiyaa, Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy Hassan Mneimneh, Director, Iraq Memory Foundation Christopher Hitchens, Author and Journalist