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Electronic Iraq (news)
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| Above: eIraq splash page, which randomly serves one of 6 photos by film-maker and photographer James Longley. |
Electronic Iraq (eIraq) -- found at electronicIraq.net -- is a supplementary news portal from the people who brought you the Electronic Intifada (founded 2001) and veteran antiwar campaigners Voices in the Wilderness (founded 1996).
Electronic Iraq was launched on 8 February 2003 to offer a humanitarian perspective during the then-looming conflict, as the U.S. government made clear its determination to go to war against Iraq.
It was the alternative news moonshot. Before, during, and after the US "Shock & Awe" bombing campaign, eIraq writers from Voices in the Wilderness' Iraq Peace Team reported on what they saw and heard via available Internet and a satellite modem connection. Visitors got a never before seen glimpse of war and its aftermath through the eyes of peace activists based at ground zero.
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| Above: The Electronic Iraq hompage. News from eight content sections, including News & Analysis, Iraq Diaries, The Media, and International Law are accessible via the left navigation while the latest articles added to the site stream down the center. |
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| Above: Sometimes, publicity for websites is hard to generate. Then there are sites like eIraq which offered daily diaries from members of the Iraq Peace Teams based in Baghdad during the US' March 2003 "Shock and Awe" bombing campaign. In the photo, lights in the window of the Al-Fanar Hotel in Baghdad show the locations of members of the team during a nearby US bombing attack. Never before in history have peace activists reported from the battlefield via the Internet. |
Post war, eIraq's work continues, documenting the US occupation and the rebuilding of Iraq, offering a range of reportage that includes News & Analysis; Opinion/Editorial; Iraq Diaries; International Law; Aid & Development; The Media; Art, Music & Culture; and Action & Activism.
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| Above: The index of eIraq's Aid & Development news feed. Navigation on this site is particularly strong. The left column of all pages offers a search facility and a list of categories with the current visibly selected. On the homepage of the site, the left column offers links to commercial breaking news reports. On other index pages, this is replaced by a list of the most recent articles added to the site. On every right index page, a brief introduction is followed by links to e-mail lists ("Stay Informed"), and the most recent headline from each section. |
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| Above: At the article level, the right column disappears, allowing space for larger images and more text. |
In June 2003, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) awarded its Voices of Peace Award to Nigel Parry and the co-founders of Electronic Iraq and sister site The Electronic Intifada "in recognition of its commitment to bringing the concerns, voices, and experiences of the Iraqi and Palestinian peoples to audiences the world over via the Internet."
View/download a full size JPG of Electronic Iraq's homepage, as of 18 December 2003. [448K]
Visit electronicIraq.net
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