International Herald Tribune
August 2, 2006
PARIS
The English-language radio voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a
reassuring baritone, shifting seamlessly from the "cancer-like
nature" of the state of Israel to "social paralysis in the United
States."
In the battle of ideas
and the intensifying conflict in Lebanon, Iran's government-backed
international radio is among the links being used by Islamic nations to reach
out to the West in English through shortwave programs, Web casts and satellite
radio.
But those lines of
communication are still weak, beset by faulty technology, fractured grammar and
heavy-handed messages, with Israel commonly labeled "the Zionist
regime" and Hezbollah "the heroic freedom fighters movement."
The efforts of Islamic
countries to get their governments' views out in a language accessible to
audiences elsewhere appear halting compared with a headlong rush in the United
States, Germany, France, Russia and Britain to start or expand Arabic
programming in a variety of media.
The government-funded
BBC World Service, which already has Arabic-language radio programming, is
spending £19 million, or $36 million, on a project to start an Arabic
television newscast in the autumn, with 12 hours of daily programming.
Earlier this year, Israel's
Foreign Ministry upgraded its Arabic news Web site, Altawasul,
which the government says drew more than 250,000 visitors in 2005. The ministry
is now planning to create a Persian-language version of the site to counter the
Iranian government's anti-Israeli views.
Arab governments have
been slower to embrace the notion of aggressively promoting their views in
English.
Syria's Damascus Radio
programming in English is not accessible on its Web site, although it transmits
about two hours of information daily on a shortwave transmitter. Lebanon's
Radio Orient also offers English news bulletins twice a day, a service
accessible on shortwave radio and on television via satellite, but not on the
Internet.
"To be honest, if
you are looking at the official Arab outlets, they are not doing much,"
said Abdel Bari Atwan, editor in chief of Al-Quds,
an Arabic daily newspaper based in London. "Most of the Arabic governments
are absolutely silent - like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt."
Atwan noted that while the
Western media often interviewed Arab experts for their Arabic-language
programming, the efforts of Islamic countries to reach the Western world in
English have been far more limited.
Al Jazeera,
the popular Arabic-language television channel based in Doha, Qatar, is still
preparing to start an English-language version; the launching has been delayed
several times.
Egypt's information
service offers a news Web site in English, but that site's live radio
programming is in Arabic.
"The problem is
either that the countries don't have English-language outlets or that they are
not really effective or well listened to," said Atwan.
"I don't really believe that American and British people will go listen to
Bahrain radio."
Iran's Internet radio
site, started in 2003, offers three hours of English-language programming a
day, including the recitation of Koranic verses,
political commentary and a series called "The Voice of Justice," with
a harsh look at the United States on subjects from "media distortion"
to "economic deficiency."
But the bluntest
language is usually reserved for Israel. On Monday, the newscast opened by
saying that the "horrific tragedy of the massacre in Lebanon has led to a
wave of international hatred and anger toward the illegal Zionist entity called
Israel."
It is not clear how
many people are listening. Contacted at the station's headquarters in Tehran,
the manager declined to answer questions, saying that all available information
was on the radio's Web site.
Letters from listeners
are posted on the Iranian Web site, with notes from Europe, South America and
Africa. Noticeably absent is correspondence from the United States, although a
stamp collector wrote in from Beacon Falls, Connecticut, requesting used
postage stamps from Iran.
Overall, the biggest
concern from letter writers is not political ideology, but technology.
"We are very
pleased that you remain on shortwave because the Internet often fails and
sometimes there is no connection," wrote Karl Mueller of Bogotá, who came
up with an alternative solution - he asked the staff in Tehran to send him a
language course in Persian.