There are countless magazines, newspapers, radio, and television stations. However, a fractious media landscape has emerged as a result of recent political and security crises.
News is primarily broadcast on television. There are a lot of media organizations with political or religious ties. Advertising revenue is rarely a consistent source of income for private media.
Al-Iraqiya TV and Republic of Iraq Radio are two media outlets that are part of the government-owned Iraqi Media Network (IMN).
Kurdistan, an independent region, has a thriving media sector.
The constitution guarantees everyone's right to free speech. However, Reporters Without Borders claims that terrorism, political unrest, and protests present a constant threat to journalists.
The BBC, Monte Carlo Doualiya radio in Paris, Al-Hurra TV, Radio Sawa, and Radio Free Iraq, all supported by the US, are among the foreign media outlets that broadcast to Iraqi audiences. Many of them are accessible through regional relays. In Baghdad (89, 96.9 FM) and Basra (88, 90 FM), the BBC World Service radio station is broadcasting.
There are dozens of satellite TV networks with an emphasis on Iraq, and almost every home has a satellite dish.
The development of the internet in Iraq is somewhat behind that of other Arab nations. 74% of the population, or 31 million users, were online as of July 2022 (Internetworldstats.com). WhatsApp and Facebook are the two most widely used social media platforms.
- State-run Iraqi Media Network publishes Al-Sabah.
- Al-Zaman, a private daily published in London.
- Baghdad-based private daily, Al-Mada.
- Baghdad-based private daily is Al-Mashriq.
- Government-run Al-Iraqiya.
- Private, Dubai-based Al-Sharqiya offers both satellite and terrestrial content.
- Private, Beirut-based, satellite and terrestrial media outlet called Al-Sumaria.
- Operating from the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, Kurdistan TV is run by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
- Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) runs KurdSat from the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
- State-controlled Republic of Iraq Radio.
- Baghdad-based private voice of Iraq.
- An affiliate of Al-Sumaria TV is Sumer FM.
- English-language, private pages of the National Iraqi News Agency (Nina).
- English-language news website, Iraqi News.
- Pro-Kurdish news website Shafaq News has English-language pages.