ERBIL,Kurdistan Region - Of nearly 900 newspapers, journals and periodicals that have been published in the Kurdistan region since 1993, only a few dozen still publish the old way – on paper – while others have gone online or out out business, according to the Kurdistan Union of Journalists in Erbil.
“Over the past few years most papers have found it difficult to increase their circulation or their revenues and when the financial crisis came last year, it was just too much,” said Azad Hamadamin, head of the union. He said the majority of the papers were local media organizations with already limited circulations.
But the trend has also hit major newspapers with circulations of popular papers like Awena and Hawlati radically going down to unprecedented levels even by Kurdish media standards. In the last few months both papers announced plans to completely halt their print version and continue only as online digital media.
Awena’s circulation dropped from 13,000 in 2009 to 4,000 in 2015 while Hawlati has had even smaller circulation.
The bulk of media outlets in the Kurdistan region work more or less as mouthpieces of their political organizations as they are largely funded by various political groups.
Both the ruling parties and the opposition have their various media outlets, which they effectively employ in times of elections and political rivalry.
“Only in the last year more than 10 party papers shut down which means that the financial crisis has also hit party papers,” Hamadamin said.
He added that nearly 3,000 journalists are now listed in their union as active members of the media community in Kurdistan from over 5,000 only a few years ago.
On Wednesday the Kurdish government announced an austerity measure in a bid to offset a budget deficit and cope with the dramatic fall of its oil prices.
The government has said it will start paying the heavily overdue salaries as of February, although with substantial cuts.
“I think if the financial crisis continues we will see more papers out of business before the end of the year because they simply have no funds,” Hamadamin added.
He also said 72 violations of journalists’ rights have been recorded in the region by their union during 2015.
“Over the past few years most papers have found it difficult to increase their circulation or their revenues and when the financial crisis came last year, it was just too much,” said Azad Hamadamin, head of the union. He said the majority of the papers were local media organizations with already limited circulations.
But the trend has also hit major newspapers with circulations of popular papers like Awena and Hawlati radically going down to unprecedented levels even by Kurdish media standards. In the last few months both papers announced plans to completely halt their print version and continue only as online digital media.
Awena’s circulation dropped from 13,000 in 2009 to 4,000 in 2015 while Hawlati has had even smaller circulation.
The bulk of media outlets in the Kurdistan region work more or less as mouthpieces of their political organizations as they are largely funded by various political groups.
Both the ruling parties and the opposition have their various media outlets, which they effectively employ in times of elections and political rivalry.
“Only in the last year more than 10 party papers shut down which means that the financial crisis has also hit party papers,” Hamadamin said.
He added that nearly 3,000 journalists are now listed in their union as active members of the media community in Kurdistan from over 5,000 only a few years ago.
On Wednesday the Kurdish government announced an austerity measure in a bid to offset a budget deficit and cope with the dramatic fall of its oil prices.
The government has said it will start paying the heavily overdue salaries as of February, although with substantial cuts.
“I think if the financial crisis continues we will see more papers out of business before the end of the year because they simply have no funds,” Hamadamin added.
He also said 72 violations of journalists’ rights have been recorded in the region by their union during 2015.
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