While we do not lose sight of the scenes of intense and exaggerated coverage of every tribal conflict in the cities of southern Iraq, where events are exaggerated and a picture of “violence and chaos” is painted, we find, on the other hand, almost complete media silence about the armed clashes that broke out in the past two days north of Erbil between the Peshmerga forces (the Zirvani faction) and militants from the Harki clan. In Khabat district, which is not far from the center of Erbil, violent clashes broke out with medium weapons, as a result of which the main roads were closed and deaths and injuries occurred, amid an unprecedented state of alert by the Kurdish security forces. However, these violent scenes did not make the news, nor did they become a trend on the pages of the “national” media, liberal or pro-Western channels, or even “neutral” newspapers. The South...raw material for incitement When two young men quarrel in a city in the south, the issue quickly turns into “a model of deep-rooted violence,” and the scene is summarized in words such as “backwardness,” “unruly weapons,” and “tribal chaos,” to which cameras, lengthy reports, and analysts are harnessed, and the door is opened for “bullying” these cities in the media, and perhaps politically. At a time when the South is presented as a “chronic security problem,” as if the smell of gunpowder has never left it, the scene is completely drawn from the North, where the lenses turn into blind people, and the microphones turn into concrete. The journalist is not allowed to approach the scene of the clash, and the space is not given to the victims’ accounts, because “the photo is forbidden,” and “the truth is first reviewed in the political office.” In the south, the media hounds the details of any quarrel, making it material to rebuke an entire community. As for Kurdistan, even if a battle with heavy weapons breaks out, what is required by the media: silence, beautification, or burying the news under the name “simple local dispute.” Is it media hypocrisy? Or censorship? What is happening is not just a “disparity in coverage,” but rather a case of blatant media hypocrisy that fails to meet the minimum requirements of professionalism and integrity. Those covering the events of the south carefully weave stories to demonize society there, while completely ignoring the bloody clashes in Erbil, which harm the image of “stability” promoted by propaganda in Kurdistan. Observers' opinion Observers believe that this duality in coverage reflects an implicit alliance between some media outlets and political power centers, and that the complete media silence regarding what is happening in the region confirms that professional neutrality is no longer the compass, but rather loyalties and balances.
