WORLD: Media Analysis - Advertisers tread carefully in liberated Iraqi media market.

Iraq shows the potential to develop national media of its own, Robin Hicks writes.

After a decade-and-a-half of isolation, it is perhaps unsurprising that the current hottest property in Iraq is the satellite dish.

Under Saddam Hussein, owning a dish incurred a large fine, the attentions of the state secret police, even imprisonment. But after the invasion of Iraq, they are sprouting on rooftops like mushrooms.

The satellite dish craze is the most visible sign that, even though Iraq remains an unstable and dangerous place, a media market is surfacing from the rubble.

Iraqis can now receive a number of foreign broadcasters with a footprint in the country via satellite without having to look nervously over their shoulders. BBC World, CNN and Fox News beam in from the west. Iran's Al-Alam TV, the pan-Arab news channels Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiyah and a host of political and religious groups broadcast from Iraq's Arab neighbours.

In Baghdad and other key cities, the Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo, the US-backed Radio Sawa and Radio Free Iraq can be picked up too. Internet cafes, which used to allow access only to state-run websites, are full of Iraqis thirsty for news and entertainment. The Jordanian website maktoob.com recently opened Iraq's biggest internet cafe in Baghdad.

Newspapers and magazines, along with private TV and radio stations, are springing up as the country's political and religious factions scramble to have a say in Iraq's future. Most are fly-by-night operations, which fold in a matter of weeks. However, a handful of well-organised and funded media of credible size is also emerging.