(7 Feb 2019) IRAQ TRAFFIC RADIO SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS RESTRICTIONS: AP Clients Only LENGTH: 3:18 ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY Dohuk, Iraq - 24 January 2019 1. Various of traffic radio presenter Awaz Masoud reading traffic instructions inside studio 2. Close of hands on sound controls at radio station 3. Producer talking to Masoud inside studio 4. Close of producer's face 5. Various of Masoud in studio 6. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Awaz Masoud, traffic radio presenter: "For me, women are not less in anything and they can do all kinds of job. However, I believe that a woman's voice has its own influence on the opposite party, the men. When a woman presents instructions for the drivers, she will have more softness, and when she announces the instructions with this softness, I believe the drivers will listen better." 7. Various of Masoud in studio 8. Close of sound levels lighting up on indicator 9. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Awaz Masoud, traffic radio presenter: "The drivers all are our correspondents. If there was snow in a place, rain, a water pond, or if there was an incident, the drivers would inform us at Traffic Radio. Many times, when they come here they consider it as their own house." 10. Poster for Duhok (Dohuk) Traffic Radio 101.1 HMZ 11. Various of trafiic radio presenter Nuzhin Khayvat Salih in studio 12. Salih with another presenter in studio 13. Producers looking through studio window at presenters 14. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Nuzhin Khayvat Salih, traffic radio presenter: "We provide traffic instruction to the drivers and we are also raising awareness among our drivers, so they can be the same as the foreign drivers, also to make our highroads much safer, just like the highroads in other countries, and that is all by raising the traffic awareness." 15. Various of traffic radio presenter in studio 16. Sound levels on computer screen 17. Wide of presenter in studio 18. Exterior of radio station, woman walking in 19. Various of  traffic policeman controlling traffic in Dohuk city centre 20. View from driving car of road 21. Sadiq Ayoub, taxi driver driving inside the city of Dohuk 22. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Sadiq Ayoub, local taxi driver: "It is the first established radio that is announcing traffic guidance. The guidance that we wouldn't be aware of, for example: a road has been blocked, an incident occurs, or the locations of speed cameras on any roads, it warns the driver of it." 23. Ayoub driving his car away 24. Queue of taxis 25. Traffic policeman controlling traffic 26. Various of people walking in the centre of Dohuk LEADIN: Traffic policewomen in Dohuk have found a way to speak to drivers directly: through their own radio station. Traffic Radio is staffed entirely by women and gives updates on the city's road network. STORYLINE Awaz Masoud looks confident in front of the microphone as she broadcasts across the radio airwaves of Dohuk. But Masoud isn't presenting a chat show or music programme. This is Traffic Radio, a station set up by the traffic police department of Dohuk and run entirely by its female officers. The station was created in 2013. But recently, due to the hiring of an entirely female team, it's become popular among young people and drivers in Dohuk. Masoud believes there are many benefits to having female presenters: "When a woman presents instructions for the drivers, she will have more softness, and when she announces the instructions with this softness, I believe the drivers will listen better," she says. Seven female traffic officers are running the radio station as presenters, producers, directors and controllers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cd4f8cccfd36cc3b17082ae5fb353b6d

• published: 12 Feb 2019
• views: 1320