Rob's Blog

Recently I bought myself a shortwave radio and a copy of the book Passport to World Band Radio. I spent most of last night finding out what I could hear.

One of the most interesting stations to listen to is the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, tagline: “Tehran, the voice of justice. For people around the world, especially Americans.” It’s about as close to a propaganda station as I’ve found. So far I haven’t been able to make any recordings — I need to dig out my minidisc recorder — but I did take some notes. The one hour broadcast for January 14th, like other broadcasts I’ve heard, consisted almost entirely of criticism of the USA and Israel. (A bit like the BBC, then). What’s striking is the language they use. Here are some stories from the news programme:

• In coverage of a story about agreements between Iran and Senegal, poverty in Africa is described as being caused by Western colonialism. Africa, though, “succeeded in freeing itself from colonialism in the last 100 years.”
• I only partly caught this story (shortwave is susceptibe to fading which can occaionally blot out the sound for a few seconds), and I don’t understand it, but someone, somewhere is saying that the Haj ritual is a good opportunity to “reveal the crimes of the USA”.
• In reference to, I think, this story, the Iranian radio station says that five zionist soldiers were killed by Palestinians in a martyrdom seeking operation. I can’t find coverage of this story on the BBC.
• Palestinian passengers in a car miraculously survived an Israeli helicopter attack.
• A Russian envoy to the UN says it’s vital that the USA respects other UN members.

Following the news was a commentary programme. Far from criticising the UN, the USA is condemned because it apparently, “ignored warnings” about corruption in the Oil for Food programme. [Update: I think this refers to the UN blaming the USA for the oil for food corruption.] Meanwhile American forces in Iraq are consitently described as occupation forces. Much is made of Colin Powell’s refusal to say that they would leave after the Iraqi elections. Instead the timing of the departure would depend on the security situation. This apparently reveals that the true nature of the USA’s strategy is to continue the occupation.

Next was an interview with some expert or other whose name I missed. When asked why Prime Minister Sharon has said he will meet with the new Palestianian leader, the expert says that, “Israelis need a Palestinian side who will legitimise the the zionist plan.” They hope the Palestinians will surrender. When this does not happen they will claim that the new leader is a barrier to peace.

When asked about the US peace plan and the creation of a Palestinian state, the expert says that the problem with the USA’s idea is that the state will lack powers to control its own borders, foreign policy, military and economy. This, he says, makes it more like a council than a state.

When asked what the real solution to the situation is, the expert replies that the only solution is the abolition of Isreal as it currently exists. “Israel must either change or be abolished.” He does not explain how Israel must change, leaving only one possibility.

Next was a round-up of foreign media, in which the free world’s balanced press is used against it. These stories were covered:

• USA Today says that “many Americans” disapprove of the torture and sexual abuse of Iraqis to get information about terrorism.
• The LA Times says that an expensive new FBI computer system will have to be scrapped.
• New York based Human Rights Watch says more investigation into the Iraqi prisoner abuse is needed. Oddly, a story from the same source about Iranian journalists receiving death threats was not covered.
• Bloomberg goes on about the cost of the Iraq war. The obvious comparisons between that and the amount spent on tsunami aid are made by the Iranian radio station, but not in the Bloomberg article.

In the same slot, much time is spent on the highlights of the article Bush Fails a Global Test by John Nichols. Bush was apparently slow to react to the tsunami disaster, and then only grumbled about critics and bragged about a $35 million aid commitment. Niether the Iranian radio station nor John Nichols mentioned the vital role played by the US military in the distribution of aid.

Before going off the air for another night, the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran broadcast a feature entitled, “Social Paralysis in the USA”, about plans to privatise social security. It was based on an article by someone named, I think, Sol Friedman, but I may have misheard because I can’t find the article online. The rhetoric was about the “inter-generational” nature of social security and how the young caring for the old via the government is the “right and civilised thing to do”. Far from making arguments about how social security really makes everyone poorer, conservatives are apparently only interested in “generating conflict between young and old”. Terrifyingly, President Bush used the word “problem” 39 times in a speech about pensions, according to the Washington Post.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 15th, 2005 at 10:54 pm and is filed under World Band. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.