June 02, 2003
THERE’S A COUPLE OF VACANCIES AT THE NEW YORK TIMES
Via the ABC, where similar feelings abound:
Posted by Tim Blair at June 2, 2003 03:23 PMDenouncing the United States, hundreds of former employees of Saddam Hussein's Information Ministry are protesting against the loss of their jobs following a US decree dissolving the ministry.
"America is against human rights. American democracy in Iraq means poverty and unemployment," they chanted.
The US civil administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, sacked more than 5,000 staff who used to run Iraqi state television, radio, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) and several newspapers, when he abolished the ministry a week ago.
"It is an unjust decision," Abdul Mutaleb Mahmoud, former journalist at al-Qadissiya newspaper, said.
Meanwhile the rest of his former co-workers are busy negotiating a management buy-out of the Ministry's assets so that they can establish their own private media service. They have already secured long term advertising contracts with several multinational corporations and are busily negotiating a syndication deal for Fox News!
Posted by: Driver at June 2, 2003 at 03:36 PMWhy is it that lucky Iraqi's are going to get a media free market before we are? Time for Operation Australian Freedom.
Posted by: Mike Hunt at June 2, 2003 at 04:37 PMIf we all try reeeaally hard I'm sure we can come up with a couple to journos to lend them for a while. Max Uechtritz I'm looking at you.....
Posted by: Jake D at June 2, 2003 at 04:45 PMI can hardly believe that it took a second administrator and more than a month to get around to gutting the Information Ministry. We need to have some rubber stamps made up that say "You're all fired!" And send some to Springfield, Illinois and Washington, DC while we're at it.
Posted by: Dave Himrich at June 3, 2003 at 02:54 PM