The stages are: pre-invasion preparation, actual war and selection of targets, initial post-war period, and the increased insurgency and handover to the Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
[2] The pre-war planning failed to effectively outline a post-war strategy for a number of reasons, namely a lack of expertise, funding, authority, and involvement of civilian aid organizations.
After the war, the process of de-Ba'athification involved abolishing the Ministry of Information and too much reliance on US personnel and expat Iraqis who had little connection to those in Iraq at the time and did not place sufficient emphasis on building local capacity.
The CPA developed a few basic rules and regulations in June and July 2003 to provide a limited regulatory control of the broadcasters.
The overall CPA objective was to issue many licenses to provide for a plethora of diverse voices, information, music, and news to satisfy the desires and tastes of the Iraqi citizens.
[3] The United States spent hundreds of millions of dollars on strategic communication in Iraq, and is believed responsible for such anonymously written newspapers as Baghdad Now and a variety of posters, billboard messages and radio and television spots.
However, Iraqis have largely dismissed such media as obvious propaganda and some note that they are as clumsily written as that used under President Hussein.
[4] Online media has become a significant source of news in Iraq as print newspaper consumption has decreased dramatically.
Economy and oil-related news comes in a clear second place, often announcing whenever contracts are signed and with which companies to develop which oil fields.
However, they rarely make the news, with the exception of through the sports section which offers details on the Iraqi national soccer team.
Since 2003, the Iraqi blogosphere grew to include many people who either previously had no background in journalism or means to make their voices heard.
[5] Iraq has had a long history of outward migration of its citizens for both political and economic reasons, beginning most heavily in the 1940s.
Voices that had been silenced are now being heard and are providing a service in an environment where traditional media is falling short of delivering sufficient information about events and sentiments on the ground.