Thinking Media Scotland 'Shock and Awe' to 'Liberation': Iraq 2003 and the Media
Sat 11 April 2015
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While we wait for the Chilcot Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the 2003 invasion, Thinking Media Scotland hosts this event to mark twelve years after the declared 'Liberation' of Iraq. An opportunity to look back at the media reporting in the weeks leading up to the 'Fall of Baghdad' and reflect on where the country is today.
There will be a screening of the documentary Control Room which looks at the media reporting from the 20th of March so-called 'Shock and Awe' aerial strikes on Baghdad, to the declaration of 'Liberation' on April the 9th, 2003. Filming takes place in Qatar, behind the scenes at Aljazeera HQ in Doha and the US Central Command media centre in the desert.
After a short interval the film will be followed by a panel debate including those who were at the heart of the events detailed in Control Room.
Chair: Joyce McMillan, journalist and columnist
Jihad Ballout, Media Relations and Comms Manager, Aljazeera 2001/2005
Diar Al Umari, Aljazeera Baghdad Bureau Chief, 2000/2003
Dr Emma Briant, Sheffield University, author of 'Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism'
Alison Balharry, TMS - Editor for BBC Radio 4 News Programmes at US Central Command, 2003
