transcript

Read more

BBC online in Persian

This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI's THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI's THE WORLD is the program audio.

LISA MULLINS: You don't find many independent voices on Iranian television or radio. The media there are pretty tightly controlled by Iran's religious government. But there's a new addition to what Iranians can now see on TV. Today, the BBC, which, by the way, co-produces this program, launched a new Persian language television service. It's out of London. Cyrus Farivar has the story.

CYRUS FARIVAR: Here's what viewers of the new BBC Persian television channel heard today. That's one of BBC Persian's new announcers, welcoming viewers in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The BBC brand is already well known and respected in Iran. Its Persian-language radio service has been broadcast there for the last 60 years. But fewer people are getting their news from the radio these days, says Nigel Chapman, head of the BBC World Service.

NIGEL CHAPMAN: Television is the preferred medium of choice for news and information in Iran. That's what Iranians use. So if you're not going to be on television in this market, you do really run the risk as the BBC of becoming less relevant, less accessible, audiences declining, and just reducing your impact. And that's not something we want to see.

FARIVAR: The BBC has budgeted $25 million a year for 8 hours a day of Persian-language programming. It's available only by satellite. Officially, satellite TV is illegal in Iran, but many Iranians have access to satellite dishes and they're already watching other foreign Persian-language stations, like the US-sponsored Voice Of America. But many Iranians don't trust it because even though it's supposed to be independent, it's seen as rarely critical of the US government.

RUS-BENT MIDA: I hope the BBC Persian, you know, television to be broadcast, you know, independently and not like Voice Of America. You know, like propaganda of the US government.

FARIVAR: That's Rus-Bent Mida, an Iranian journalist now living in New York. He says while his family back home will be able to see BBC Persian on TV, he'll be watching it online. Besides VOA and now the BBC, the other non-government Persian language channels are mostly broadcast by Iranian exiles living in Los Angeles. While many in Iran tune into these stations for their music and cultural programming, their news and political coverage isn't taken seriously, says Hadi Ghaemi. He's with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

HADI GHAEMI: They have been extremely unprofessional and have become a joke in Iran. To such extent that the government actually taped them and made a collage of them and showed them as humor on Friday evenings, on weekend nights, inside Iran.

FARIVAR: Ghaemi says the BBC is a welcome addition to the Persian-language media landscape. That being said, many Iranians may not be aware of the BBC's small role in their country's history. According to a BBC documentary, in 1953 during a BBC English-language broadcast, a single code word was spoken. That word alerted Mohammed Reza-Shah of Iran that the coup ending Iran's only democratically elected government was under way. It was this coup backed by the United States and Britain that ushered the Shah into power. Given that history, it's likely that Iran's current leaders will be keeping close tabs on the new BBC Persian service. For The World, I'm Cyrus Farivar.

Copyright ©2008 PRI's THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI's THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World's Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.