Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 4/11/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / U-S / TV (L)

NUMBER=2-302104

BYLINE= MICHAEL KITCHEN

DATELINE= WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

INTRO: The US-led coalition in Iraq has begun broadcasting television programs to provide up-to-date news and information about humanitarian assistance to the population. V-O-A's Michael Kitchen reports from Washington.

TEXT: Specially equipped coalition aircraft are beaming what is called the "Towards Freedom Television" channel across Iraq, although U-S Central Command admits that Iraqis currently have only limited access to the broadcasts.

The U-S and British militaries are providing the programming, which has so far included speeches by U-S President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The broadcast schedule has so far been limited to about five hours in the evening, but the U-S Department of Defense says that the amount and timing of future programming could change soon.

The Pentagon has also reportedly approached commercial U-S television networks to add new programs to the venture. U-S officials did not say which news organizations might become involved. But a spokesman for the cable news network, C-N-N, said it did not plan to take part.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the military broadcasts are not propaganda, but legitimate news.

///FLEISCHER ACT///

I think it's best judged by observing the content of what is shown to the Iraqi people. Certainly when the Department of Defense transmits to the Iraqi people a message of the President of the United States that you yourselves have seen with your own eyes, what's wrong with letting D-o-D (Department of Defense) transmit that for the Iraqi people to see with their own eyes?

///ACT END///

Barry Fulton, the director of George Washington University's Public Diplomacy Institute, says the Iraqis' reaction to coalition broadcasts will more likely be in the ear of the beholder.

///FULTON ACT///

If you're living in a controled media environment and you have been used to a steady diet of propaganda, using the term in a prejorative sense, then this is going to look like the same thing. If you are a person who has had some window to the outside world, and you're that kind of person who already has some predisposition to change, this is the answer to your dreams.

///ACT END///

Mr. Fulton, formerly a senior official with the U-S Information Agency, adds that U-S troops used similar broadcasts during the 1990s in Kosovo. Those broadcasts, however, had limited effect due to problems in transmitting to a wide enough area.

The military broadcasts complement the coalition's current 24-hour radio programming, which is being beamed via military aircraft over five different frequencies. Plans are also reportedly underway to begin publishing a coalition newspaper in southern Iraq. (SIGNED)

NEB/mac/KBK