Former Iraqi TV Anchors Criticize U.S. Produced News

Former television announcers from Iraqi state television have criticized the U.S. news broadcasts into the country. The New York Times reports that TV anchors, technicians, and others are trying to get Iraqi produced programming back on the air. "The anchors said that one of the reasons prompting them to return to work was what they considered the poor quality of nightly television broadcasts that the United States has started beaming into Iraq. ... The broadcasting has been developed by the Broadcast Board of Governors, a United States agency that oversees the Voice of America and other government-sponsored media projects. The anchors for the 50-minute news segment, called 'Iraq and the World,' are exiles who read news snippets about the day's events. The Iraqi anchors criticize the American show as technically 'primitive' and lacking in sound news judgment," the Times writes. "It's disgusting -- they are showing us the things they want to show us," a woman who worked as an announcer for Shabab Television told the Times.

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