The Joint Visitors Bureau, the ‘Rick’s Café’ in Baghdad, Set to Close
WWE) superstars performing for the Coalition troops at Camp Victory, Baghdad (photo: Lias M. Zunzanyika, USAF/Creative Commons)
The hip and happenin’ spot to go in Baghdad, Iraq has been a place known as the Joint Visitors Bureau. It’s part of the sprawling US military base known as Camp Victory. And it’s where American visitors have called home when they’ve spent a few days in the Iraqi capital.
Now the Joint Visitors Bureau is set to shut down at the end of next month. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the New York Times Pentagon correspondent Thom Shanker about his article on the JVB in Friday’s paper.
Without federal support, local stations, especially in rural and underserved areas, face deep cuts or even closure. Vital public service alerts, news, storytelling, and programming like The World will be impacted. The World has weathered many storms, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to being your trusted source for human-centered international news, shared with integrity and care. We believe public media is about truth and access for all. As an independent, nonprofit newsroom, we aren’t controlled by billionaire owners or corporations. We are sustained by listeners like you.
Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World.