Shafaq News- Baghdad
More than 20 Iraqi newspapers could shut down after agovernment decision to restrict official advertisements and tenders to aunified electronic platform, Al-Nakhil Center for Press Rights and Freedomswarned on Monday.
The center noted that several print outlets already facefinancial difficulties and depend heavily on revenue from officialadvertisements and tenders.
While supporting broader digital transformation, the centerurged authorities to safeguard the sustainability of print media, saying theyremain an important part of Iraq's media heritage and continue to serve manypeople, particularly older citizens who are unfamiliar with modern technologiesand rely on newspapers for news and information. It added that depriving printpublication of advertising revenue could force them to close, lead to joblosses among journalists and media workers, and deny large segments of thepopulation access to reliable information, pushing them toward alternativesources that may not provide accurate news.
Iraq ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in the 2026 ReportersWithout Borders World Press Freedom Index. In 2025, the Journalists' RightsDefense Association recorded 182 violations against journalists across thecountry, while the Metro Center for Journalists' Rights documented 315violations in the Kurdistan Region, nearly double the previous year's total.
: Iraq's press freedom index falls amid record violations