AudienceScapes Premium Article Region: Middle East/North Africa | Country: Iran

The Islamic Republic's World Service and Iranian Public Diplomacy

By Haleh Vaziri, Senior Analyst for Global Media and Communications

16 October 2008

Iran's staunch anti-Western rhetoric, defiance on nuclear policy and support for Islamic militants abroad give a hard edge to the country's global image. Less noticed is Tehran's use of soft power-notably, international broadcasting-to spread its influence abroad. The World Service of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) airs radio and television programming in more than 20 languages; Tehran hopes this will be a cost-effective and subtler tool for foreign policy, complemented by foreign aid, cultural exchanges and inter-faith dialogues.

The Islamic Republic began international broadcasting in 1980 with the Arabic-language TV channel Alkawthar¹, featuring newscasts, a morning show, a children's program, panel discussions and recitations from the Quran. As the Iran-Iraq war emptied Tehran's coffers, however, spending on the channel dwindled and its appeal to the intended audience diminished because many Arabs sympathized with Baghdad.

Iran revived its international broadcasting efforts during the 1990s. The IRIB currently exports radio and TV programming in languages from Azeri and Kiswahili to Hindi and Japanese. The centerpieces of Tehran's foreign TV enterprise are Arabic and English channels² aimed at turning neighbors into allies and convincing adversaries that the Islamic Republic is not only a power to be reckoned with but also a force for good in the world. The World Service broadcasts only via radio to countries considered less vital to Iran's national interests.

In the Arab world, beyond funding Lebanon's Hezbollah-sponsored Al-Manar TV in Beirut and the Palestinian Hamas-run Al Qods TV, Iran launched Arabic-language Alalam TV about six years ago. Translated as "the world," the station claims to "be precise and timely in reporting the news wherever it happens ... [with] in-depth, honest and balanced analysis of issues...."³ Yet Alalam has a decidedly Islamist tilt, emphasizing developments affecting Arabs and other Muslims, especially Shi‘as. Stories about Palestinian and Iraqi suffering are common, as is negative coverage of the United States and Europe. Currently, Alalam is reporting on the U.S. financial crisis, highlighting the weakness of American capitalism to the detriment of global markets.

Click here to for a podcast of Haleh Vaziri's commenting on Iran's extensive foreign broadcasting program and public diplomacy efforts over the airwaves.

InterMedia's qualitative research suggests that Alalam resonates with some Arab viewers, particularly Shi‘as-a minority among Muslims worldwide-in countries where they feel discriminated against by Arab Sunnis and/or Christians. In Bahrain, for example, a young homemaker declared, "The majority of us are Shi‘as, our royal family is Sunni, but we all get along here. Alalam doesn't seek to divide us, whereas Al Jazeera wants Sunnis and Shi‘as to argue all day. Alalam tells the truth."

Interestingly, though, Alalam doesn't attract many viewers in countries where Shi‘as are the majority, as in Bahrain, or in Lebanon where they have a plurality. Comparing viewership of Alalam with that of the more radical Islamist Al-Manar underscores this point. Only in Iraq, where Shi‘as are a majority, does Alalam draw a sizable audience and compete with Al-Manar in a statistical dead heat. In Lebanon, Al-Manar dominates; Alalam barely registers there. Viewing of Alalam in Kuwait and the UAE's Abu Dhabi and Dubai,⁴ with their small Shi ‘a minorities, actually outpaces that in Lebanon: 4.4 percent switch on the station at least once a week in Kuwait and 4.5 percent in the UAE, compared to less than 1 percent in Lebanon. As for its position vis-à-vis Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and MBC, these and other major news outlets dwarf Alalam in all Arab markets.

Alalam's and Al-Manar's Weekly Audiences Compared

Country Alalam Al-Manar Bahrain     2.3% 63.3% Iraq     22.4% 23.9% Lebanon 0.8% 59.2%

Sources: InterMedia surveys of Bahrain, n=1,200 adults 15+, both local citizens and Arab expatriates living there, May-June 2006; Iraq, n=2,000 adults 15+, September 2007; and Lebanon, n=1,001 adults 15+, May-June 2007.

The IRIB's riskiest and most expensive investment is the English-language Press TV, launched in 2007 and available via satellite and on the web. The ruling clerics see it targeting Americans, Britons and other English speakers to counter what Iranian leaders feel is mainstream media's inaccurate, unflattering coverage of Iran and to offer an alternative view on world news.

Press TV's vision includes telling the "...untold and overlooked stories of individuals who

have experienced the vitality and versatility of political and cultural divides firsthand."⁵ As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has insisted, "[Iranians are] the target of a global media war. Hardly any media deliver on the commitment [to objectivity]. We can't help but report about the agony of our fellow human beings. Even if one day, a bully [i.e., the United States] isn't targeting our country, we won't be indifferent ... to oppression."⁶

Producing 22 programs and 48 news bulletins a day, Press TV's staff numbers some 400, including American and British journalists as well as Iranians who speak near-native English. Headquartered in a north Tehran apartment building, the station has bureaus in Baghdad, Beijing, Brussels, Cairo, Gaza and the West Bank, London, Moscow, Rome and even New York and Washington, D.C. Correspondents can thus report live on events as they unfold.

Anecdotal accounts by foreign media critics and guest experts appearing on the channel have attested that the world news coverage on Press TV seems mostly accurate and impartial, while its discussion programs present diverse viewpoints and even subtle criticisms of the Islamic Republic by Iranian commentators who know how to articulate their opinions without directly taking on the ruling clerics. Yet observers say reporting on Iran is far less balanced, sometimes consisting of mere flattery. Stories about the Islamic Republic's economic woes are rare, as are guests who oppose Tehran's stance towards the Bush Administration. News about Tehran's economic agreements with other countries and features on Iranian artisans are standard fare.

A Listing of Featured Programs on PressTV (click here for complete descriptions)

To the east of Iran, World Service managers plan to extend their TV reach to Afghanistan and Tajikistan with a satellite channel broadcasting in Dari and Tajik-local variants of Persian-and in Pashto.⁷ With programming produced in all three countries, the station is intended to foster "cultural cooperation." Yet the broadcasts will also clearly serve Tehran's interests in Central Asia, an increasingly important region for the ruling clerics. They aim to capitalize on business opportunities in Afghanistan's reconstruction, boost commerce with Tajikistan, cooperate in fighting the narcotics trade and explore possibilities for military and oil pipeline agreements. Meanwhile, Iranian officials are looking well beyond their regional neighborhood to try to win friends and influence people: in February 2008, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that the Islamic Republic has proposed a Spanish-language channel to be based in Bolivia that will target the Latin American region.⁸

Granted, Iran faces stiff competition from better-funded domestic and international stations in most of the markets IRIB enters. And, as in the past, its neighbors in the Middle East and Central Asia may accuse Tehran of Persian imperialism and/or agitating local Shi‘as. Amid long-term budgetary constraints and chronic bureaucratic mismanagement, the Islamic Republic may also have to decide whether the World Service's costs outweigh its benefits. But for now, Iran's ruling clerics are awash in petrodollars and are fully behind this ambitious public diplomacy campaign.

 

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¹The channel's name comes from the root of the word meaning "abundance" and refers to a river described in the Quran from which believers will drink only once on Judgment Day but never again feel thirsty or hungry. Alkawthar is supposed to evoke the Islamic Republic's abundant virtues which all Muslims should emulate so as to quench their thirst for Islamic justice.

²The World Service's other languages are Albanian, Armenian, Bangla, Bosnian, Chinese, French, German, Georgian, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Kazakh, Kurdish - in Kurmanji and Sorani, Pashto, Russian, Spanish, Tajik, Turkish and Urdu.

³As translated from Alalam's tag lines in Arabic.

⁴InterMedia's 2007 surveys sampled 1,201 adults 15 and older in Kuwait and 1,225 in the UAE. Both samples consisted of local citizens and Arab expatriates living in these countries.

⁵http://www.presstv.ir/aboutus.aspx.

⁶As translated from Persian.

⁷Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL Report, "Central/South Asia: Iran Pushes Cross-Border TV Project," March 27, 2008, http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1079698.html.

⁸Text of report in English Press TV website, Tehran, 19 Feb 08 via BBC Monitoring.