VARIOUS: LOS ANGELES BASED IRANIAN TELEVISION STATIONS HELP RALLY ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS IN TEHRAN

Record ID: 846274

  • Title: VARIOUS: LOS ANGELES BASED IRANIAN TELEVISION STATIONS HELP RALLY ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS IN TEHRAN
  • Date: 2nd July 2003
  • Summary: (U1) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 26, 2003) (REUTERS - PART QUALITY AS INCOMING) SLV EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WHERE CHANNEL ONE IS HOUSED; MV DOORWAY OF CHANNEL ONE OFFICES; SCU PAN OF MONITORS IN BROADCAST CONTROL BOOTH; MV PAN TO TECHNICIAN WORKING AT COMPUTERS; SCU PAN FROM COMPUTER SCREEN TO TECHNICIANS (5 SHOTS) MV TECHNICIAN AND PRESENTER PREPARING FOR SHOW AT DESK; MV PAN FROM LIGHTS TO PRESENTER; SCU COMPUTER SCREEN (3 SHOTS) SCU PAN FROM BLINKING PHONE TO PRESENTER; SCU PAN FROM PRESENTER ON TV TO PRESENTER IN STUDIO; SCU IN-HOUSE TV SHOWING PRESENTER TALKING TO A PERSON CALLING FROM IRAN; CUTAWAY OF STUDIO CAMERA (4 SHOTS) MV PULL FROM CHANNEL ONE OWNER/FOUNDER/PRESENTER SHAHRAM HOMAYOUN AT DESK TO CAMERA; SCU IN-HOUSE TV SHOWING HOMAYOUN (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) CHANNEL ONE OWNER/FOUNDER/ PRESENTER SHAHRAM HOMAYOUN SAYING "Our main goal to educate politically the people in Iran. We are working to build freedom of speech, freedom of association, free living in our country." MV CAMERA CUTAWAY OF HOMAYOUN ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) HOMAYOUN SAYING "Today, not only people in Iran want change, but people in the government also are helping us to spread our message in Iran because they are unhappy with today's government and the system."
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / TEHRAN, IRAN
  • City:
  • Country: Usa Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • Topics: Communications,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6RBAOHVT6PUQU27MR3JYEJARK
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Los Angeles-based Iranian television stations are helping to rally anti-government protests in Tehran and growing more aggressive as the movement builds momentum.
    Media outlets are tightly controlled in Iran, so these satellite broadcasters are filling a gap left by stifled local media and weakened opposition groups.
    "Today, not only people in Iran want change, but people in the government also are helping us to spread our message in Iran because they are unhappy with today's government and the system," says Shahram Homayoun, the owner/founder/presenter for Channel One Iranian television.
    Viewers in Iran risk confiscation of their satellite equipment, arrest, and opposition groups claim, torture and death. Reuters obtained e-mailed images of the protests that show students clashing with police.
    Despite the dangers, the L.A.-based stations claim millions of people tune into their mixture of news and call-in shows. Channel One, operating in a converted warehouse, reaches an estimated 7-10 million viewers in Iran plus about a million in the U.S.
    It's no accident these guerilla broadcasters are located in Los Angeles. The metropolitan area is the home to about 750,000 Iranians, the largest concentration outside Tehran.
    Exiled opposition groups, however, are split over the shape of Iran's future. Some are monarchists, anxious to return to the Shah's government that was in place before the 1979 revolution. Other opposition groups run the gamut from Communists to a Kurdish party. Some analysts says it remains to be seen if these satellite stations can overcome infighting and heavy jamming by Iran to make a lasting impact on a public hungry for uncensored news and change in the 24 year-old Islamic republic.
    But Channel One and other L.A.-based Iranian broadcasters continue to charge ahead. Channel One's programming features presenters railing against the Islamist government and exhorting action to change it. Sometimes they take calls from people inside Iran who are risking their safety to tell stories about the arrests and beatings that have followed the students' protests.
    "Many times I've had to stop the programme because I'm overwhelmed by my emotions," says Channel One's Homayoun. He adds his station is not and will not take money from the U.S.
    government to support its operations. Homayoun could be in a minority if the U.S. Congress passes the Iran Democracy Act, proposed as Washington has toughened its rhetoric against the Muslim state, which it brands part of an "axis of evil."
    Iran, where satellite television is illegal but widely used, has intensified its jamming of the stations and started blocking Internet sites deemed immoral or subversive.
    The measures drew criticism from reformists who voiced concern over the possible public health dangers of radiation from powerful mobile jamming transmitters.
    Iran's powerful hard-liners say the curbs are needed to fight Western cultural influences and disinformation by enemies.
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