Middle East Quarterly (Dr. Michael Rubin): How much airtime do you have in Iran?

Jeffrey Gedmin: We have 24/7 web and radio. We have a terrific group of Iranian colleagues. They do a wonderful job of meeting the needs of so many Iranians. To be even more effective, we would need additional funding, above all for salaries for these valued colleagues. We pay our staff in dollars and the falling dollar has hit us hard. Our Iranian colleagues believe in our mission to promote constitutional democratic values and institutions. They believe this is patriotism and in the interest of Iran. But they also have to live; they have families, and they are working in a competitive market place. To get and retain the best people, we have to pay competitive salaries.

MEQ: Does the Cold War model of broadcasting really apply to a country such as Iran in which so many people have satellite dishes for international television?

Gedmin: It's true, technologies have changed. The media environment is more competitive, even in mostly closed societies like Iran. But fundamentals remain the same. We're doing "surrogate broadcasting," providing the Iranian people with news and information their government denies them, information not available through other media. We're using new technologies, too, such as SMS [text messaging]. The regime works hard to jam and block everything we provide. That's one kind of market test.

MEQ: How many Iranians listen to Radio Farda? How do you know?

Gedmin: Audience research is difficult. Through subcontractors in third-party countries, we collect information through telephone polling. Needless to say, this is an imperfect method because the fear factor plays a big role. We also convene focus groups in neighboring countries. We estimated that, until recently, we had an audience share of more than 13 percent, although new data indicates a drop in audience. We are analyzing the data, but believe that fear makes it increasingly difficult for listeners to admit they tune into Radio Farda.

MEQ: In an ideal world, how many correspondents would you need? How expensive would this be?

Gedmin: Our colleagues feel stretched pretty thin at times. We'd be delighted to be able to augment our staff in Prague. We could easily do more, more effectively. We would also benefit from offices in the region, say in Dubai or in Istanbul. It's remarkable what we could do with an extra million dollars or so.

MEQ: The Islamic Republic jams your broadcasts, but, at the same time, don't they let Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondents operate inside Iran?

Gedmin: We do have informal, unofficial "helpers," but Iranian officials do not permit us to have accredited correspondents inside Iran. Last year, one of our colleagues, Parnaz Azima, was trapped for eight months when she went home to Iran to visit her ailing 95-year-old mother. When authorities finally released Azima, they warned her against working for Radio Farda. Since then, an Iranian court has sentenced her to one year in prison for acting against national security. Azima is in Prague, now, but her mother is still in Iran. Iranian authorities have threatened to take away the deed to her home because of her daughter's work with us.

MEQ: Are Iranians living inside the Islamic Republic afraid to talk with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty?

Gedmin: Yes. But talk they do through various means. We recently received more than 500 cell phone text messages in just one night from people inside the country. This is another means of communication that Iranian authorities have begun to block.

MEQ: What topics does Radio Farda cover that other outlets do not?

Gedmin: We'll go after corruption stories in ways others may not. We had something on the sad, bizarre story of dog prisons. Pets were being confiscated by authorities, ostensibly because pet dogs do not conform to the Mullahs' vision of Islam. We've done hard-hitting reporting on fuel rationing. Of course, we cover human rights, reporting on demonstrations and arrests; we also cover women's issues.

MEQ: With so many competing interests, how do you determine what should get airtime?

Gedmin: Our journalists and editors need to be quick and nimble. Radio Farda covers health, culture, politics, the economy, human rights. If the leader of a bus drivers' union is arrested in Tehran and nobody else covers it, then that's our story. About 80 percent of what we do is domestic. We're a "surrogate broadcaster." We seek to provide the news and information that Iranians would have if their government permitted them free, independent media. We do cover some international topics, too. Recently, though, two of our senior colleagues from Radio Farda conducted an exclusive interview with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on American policy toward Iran. [1] It's generally Voice of America, however, that covers news about the United States and U.S. foreign policy.

MEQ: In the past, people dismissed Radio Azadi, Radio Farda's predecessor, as "Radio Khatami" because of the alleged pro-Khatami slant of its reporting. Was this a fair criticism? How does Radio Farda conduct quality control to ensure that its reporters and producers do not let their own political persuasion impact reporting?

Gedmin: It's hard for me to comment about Radio Azadi. I was not here at the time. But the larger question is an important one: It's part of the challenge of socalled émigré broadcasting. We have a healthy range of political opinion inside Radio Farda. Our staffers, whether hawks or doves, Conservatives or Social Democrats, all want decent, accountable rule-of-law and respect for human rights in Iran. That's the way it should be. The pluralism inside our Persian service is reflective of the situation inside Iran. At the same time, our programming can't be held hostage to one particular approach or point of view. We have strong editorial leadership, internal supervision, and external monitoring to ensure we maintain our journalistic and moral compass.

MEQ: Do you think Western news agencies covering Iran practice self-censorship? How does Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty balance access versus truth?

Gedmin: Yes, I'm fairly certain they do. I think it's what journalists quietly call "visa journalism." Everybody knows you don't get in and get access unless you practice a certain amount of self-restraint. It's a dilemma, and it's true we suffer because we aren't permitted inside the country. It is also an advantage, though; the regime cannot throw us out. Having said this, Iranian authorities regularly find ways to harass our journalists in Prague. It takes courage for our journalists to do what they do.

MEQ: How does the regime harass your journalists in Prague?

Gedmin: The Iranian government will summon one of our journalists to come home to face charges before a revolutionary court. If they refuse to go, the government requires bail. If the journalists decline to pay that — a figure ranging from US$50,000 to $100,000 dollars — then the government will often threaten to confiscate the property of a relative.

MEQ: Iran is an incredibly diverse country linguistically. The official language may be Persian (Farsi), but significant minorities speak Azeri, Kurdish, Baluchi, Gilaki, and a host of other languages. Should U.S.-funded media broadcast in these regional languages?

Gedmin: We are considering broadcasts in Azeri to Iran. What's important, though, is not to play into the hands of the regime. Radio Farda is not anti-Iranian and does not promote separatism. We are having an interesting conversation with our Farda colleagues about how one supports minority rights without threatening — or being seen as threatening — the unitary Iranian state.

NOTE:

Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin has, since February, 2007, been President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where he directs broadcasting and Internet operations in twenty-eight languages and where, with an annual budget of just $5.3 million for RFE/RL's Iranian broadcasts, he has revitalized Radio Farda, RFE/RL's Persian (Farsi) service.

From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Gedmin served as Director of the Aspen Institute-Berlin, before which he was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and Executive Director of the New Atlantic Initiative.

He is the author or editor of two books on European and trans-Atlantic relations -- The Hidden Hand: Gorbachev and the Collapse of East Germany (Washington: American Enterprise Institute Press, 1992) and European Integration and the American Interest (Washington: American Enterprise Institute Press, 1998) -- and was Executive Editor and Producer of the award-winning 1995 PBS television program, The Germans: Portrait of a New Nation, and Co-Executive Producer of the documentary, Spain's 9/11 and the Challenge of Radical Islam in Europe, which aired on PBS in 2007.

Gedmin has taught at Georgetown University and is an honorary professor at the University of Konstanz in Germany. He holds a doctorate in German Area Studies and Linguistics from Georgetown University, a master's degree in German Area Studies from the American University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor of Arts in Music from the same institution. Michael Rubin interviewed him on July 13, 2008.

Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist ideology, is Editor of the Middle East Quarterly, a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson, of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs.

The foregoing interview was originally published in the Middle East Quarterly, Fall, 2008, and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam, working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-ŕ-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat. (Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1984)

Return to Top of Page

Go to the WEBSITE INDEX

Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies

Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles

Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume X, 2008

Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights

Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage

CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION

LINKS TO PARTICULAR ISSUES & SUBJECT MATTER CATEGORIES
TREATED IN THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, U.S.A.:

Africa: Black Africa * Africa: North Africa * American Government 1
American Government 2 * American Government 3 * American Government 4
American Government 5 * American Politics * Anglosphere * Arabs
Arms Control & WMD * Aztlan Separatists * Big Government
Black Africa * Bureaucracy * Canada * China * Civil Liberties * Communism
Congress, U.S. * Conservative Groups * Conservative vs. Liberal
Constitutional Law * Counterterrorism * Criminal Justice * Disloyalty * Economy
Education * Elections, U.S. * Eminent Domain * Energy & Environment
English-Speaking World * Ethnicity & Race * Europe * Europe: Jews
Family Values * Far East * Fiscal Policy, U.S. * Foreign Aid, U.S. * Foreign Policy, U.S.
France * Hispanic Separatism * Hispanic Treason * Human Health * Immigration
Infrastructure, U.S. * Intelligence, U.S. * Iran * Iraq * Islamic North Africa
Islamic Threat * Islamism * Israeli vs. Arabs * Jews & Anti-Semitism
Jihad & Jihadism * Jihad Manifesto I * Jihad Manifesto II * Judges, U.S. Federal
Judicial Appointments * Judiciary, American * Latin America * Latino Separatism
Latino Treason * Lebanon * Leftists/Liberals * Legal Issues
Local Government, U.S. * Marriage & Family * Media Political Bias
Middle East: Arabs * Middle East: Iran * Middle East: Iraq * Middle East: Israel
Middle East: Lebanon * Middle East: Syria * Middle East: Tunisia
Middle East: Turkey * Militant Islam * Military Defense * Military Justice
Military Weaponry * Modern Welfare State * Morality & Decency
National Identity * National Security * Natural Resources * News Media Bias
North Africa * Patriot Act, USA * Patriotism * Political Culture * Political Ideologies
Political Parties * Political Philosophy * Politics, American * Presidency, U.S.
Private Property * Property Rights * Public Assistance * Radical Islam
Religion & America * Rogue States & WMD * Russia * Science & Ethics
Sedition & Treason * Senate, U.S. * Social Welfare Policy * South Africa
State Government, U.S. * Subsaharan Africa * Subversion * Syria * Terrorism 1
Terrorism 2 * Treason & Sedition * Tunisia * Turkey * Ukraine
UnAmerican Activity * UN & Its Agencies * USA Patriot Act * U.S. Foreign Aid
U.S. Infrastructure * U.S. Intelligence * U.S. Senate * War & Peace
Welfare Policy * WMD & Arms Control

This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics, civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.

POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS

POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE

Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.

Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs, International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests, Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy

INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

---

THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis

Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor

Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic, Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues

Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity