NPR: Baghdad: In Pictures by Iraqis

Baghdad: In Pictures by Iraqis

Since before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraqi bloggers have often presented a view of life in their country that is darker than the one presented on American evening newscasts or cable network news shows. For instance, most American media outlets, for a variety of reasons (and many of them good ones), have largely refrained from showing pictures or films of the bodies of those killed in the fighting.

But using blogs and other tools like YouTube, some Iraqis have opened a window on daily life -- and death -- in a war zone.

Healing Iraq is one Iraqi blog I read regularly. Its author, Zeyad A., a former dentist turned blogger/journalist has been featured in publications like The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Zeyad writes that he "had become frustrated with the negative media coverage from Iraq so I decided to start a personal blog to present the positive side which was not getting enough attention at the time."

And yet, over time, Healing Iraq has chronicled "Iraq's daily deterioration," as the Journal put it.

I would like to share two recent Healing Iraq posts. One contains several YouTube videos about the plight of Iraqi refugees, a subject Zeyad notes is seldom covered on American TV.

The other post contains pictures taken by residents of western Baghdad in the months of April, May and June. You should know that some are quite graphic, but as Zeyad writes, "they provide a glimpse of life in the Iraqi capital four years after the ... American invasion."

9:34 AM ET | 06-26-2007 | permalink

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You may also want to check out the video blog Alive in Baghdad. It was originally created by US video blogger Brian Conley after he went to document the everyday lives of Baghdadis caught between the crossfire. But he then decided to raise some money to buy lots of camcorders and teach a group of local residents how to produce video. These Iraqi vlog correspondents are now producing the bulk of videos on the site. Alive in Baghdad swept the first annual video blogging awards last fall, and for good reason; it's really compelling stuff.

Sent by andy carvin | 11:55 AM ET | 06-26-2007

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