From WNYKIN. From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. The occupation of Iraq may be officially over, but the battle still rages for the future.

Despite hefty budgets provided for American media projects there, it seems that dollars can't buy Iraqi hearts and mines, unless they're used to fix the

sewage system and the electrical grid. No, it turns out only Iraqi media can win Iraqi hearts and

minds, and the number one media outlet in Iraq right now is the three-month-old Radio Dijla,

Iraq's first independent station. Dijla is about daily life, power outages, marital

problems, sports, pop culture, freewheeling conversation, a place to complain, news you can use.

What a groundbreaking concept. Ahmed al-Rakabi is the founder and director of Radio Dijla. Welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

Now, you were recruited from London to help create the Iraqi Media Network, which was the

coalition's effort to restart Iraqi media. And there were complaints that from the outset,

it was too much under the heavy hand of Americans. Was that why you quit?

Well, simply, I can do my job in the Iraqi media network.

The money were in the hands of people who knew nothing about radio and television.

We started to receive orders, and there was no way of negotiating about any program or about anything.

How did you start Radio Dijla?

I came with the idea of creating a talk radio.

This is the first talk radio, not only in Iraq, but I believe in the Arab world as well.

It's like a member of a family here.

First of all, we speak their language. We deal with their priorities. Our priorities

are their priorities. For instance, the prices of the tomato paste in the street for many people

are more important than the visit of the UN representative to Iraq. It has more effect on their daily life. Another reason

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