IRAN/MEDIA: "THE DAILY ABSURDITIES" OF WORKING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000498 SIPDIS LONDON FOR GAYLE; BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD; BAKU FOR MCCRENSKY; ASHGEBAT FOR TANGBORN; DUBAI FOR IRPO E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TU IR SUBJECT: IRAN/MEDIA: "THE DAILY ABSURDITIES" OF WORKING FOR PRESS TV REF: A) ISTANBUL 77 B) ANKARA 1602 C) ANKARA 1643 Classified By: Consul General Sharon Wiener; Reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Istanbul correspondent (protect) for Iran's English-language "Press TV" satellite news channel shared with us recently a number of anecdotes illustrating Press TV's "inconsistent approach" to journalistic standards, including refusing to air her report on recent corruption allegations against Turkish PM Erdogan, and reproaching her for submitting a "too pro-American" report calling a recent US naval visit to Georgia a "humanitarian mission" rather than Tehran's preferred description of it as "a provocative military maneuver." Frustrated also with the poor pay, she is decreasing her workload with Press TV and taking on projects with "more independent" regional satellite channels like Al-Jazeera, predicting that other reporters employed by Press TV may do the same. She also described Press TV's coverage of US Presidential elections as intentionally more critical of Senator McCain's campaign than Senator Obama's. End summary. Testing the Limits -------------- ¶2. (C) Consulate General Istanbul's "Iran Watcher" met recently with the Istanbul correspondent for Iran's English-language "Press TV" 24-hour satellite news channel (please protect) to follow-up on past discussions with her over Press TV's reporting standards and editorial line. The correspondent, a UK national (not of Iranian ethnicity),said she was feeling increasingly frustrated with her employer over several issues, including "obviously subjective and inconsistent" journalistic standards imposed by Press TV's editorial board. She shared several illustrative anecdotes, including: -- On August 23 she sent in a video report (available on Press TV's website) on the transit through the Bosporus Straits of US Naval vessels into the Black Sea. Her report called it a "purely humanitarian mission" to Georgia. The next day she says she received a reproachful email from her editor in Tehran calling her report "too pro-American" and asking why she failed to hew closer to Press TV's editorial line of terming the US naval ship passage a "provocative military maneuver." She told us that, as with all of her reports, she had sent in a draft script the day before producing the report, and the editorial desk in Tehran had not taken issue at that point with the proposed language. To her, that indicated that the "overworked" editorial desk probably had not bothered to review her draft script, and indeed probably does not review "many if not most" correspondents' draft scripts before the reports are filed. That she was reproached for reporting on "what was obviously humanitarian aid" illustrated to her an increasing tendency by Press TV editors to reject any reporting that casts the USG in positive light, even when factually correct. -- On September 2, she attended a press conference for Turkish FM Babacan and visiting Russian FM Lavrov (ref B). She told us that only Turkish and Russian press were allowed to ask questions, but she ignored the ground-rules, took the microphone, introduced herself as working for Iran's Press TV, and asked Lavrov a "hard-hitting" question about Russia interest in Azeri gas. The next day she received another reproach from her Tehran editor for "acting disrespectfully" to the Turkish hosts and to FM Lavrov by taking the initiative to ask a question and then by asking an "unfriendly" question of Lavrov. Her editor told her that she now must vet any press conference questions with Press TV editors in advance, which she said showed Press TV's "lack of trust in its correspondents, and its preference for obedient amateurs over real journalists." -- She recently submitted a report detailing the public allegations of corruption made by a leading Turkish business and publishing mogul against Turkish PM Erdogan (ref C),but Press TV refused to air it. She told us that Press TV editors have lately rejected any reporting from her that is critical of Turkey's AKP government, and especially of PM Erdogan. In contrast, she said her editors continue to encourage her to report on the government's investigation of secular and military officials involved in the so-called "Ergenekon" coup plot against the government. She speculated that Tehran sees the AKP government's leaders in Ankara as "probably the friendliest to Iran of any possible Turkish government" and thus off-limits for official Iranian media criticism. ISTANBUL 00000498 002 OF 002 No uniform standards, no willingness to support training -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The correspondent also bemoaned the lack of any journalistic training offered to its employees by Press TV. She recounted that Press TV's Ankara correspondent, an Iranian national who is a former English teacher hired by Press TV only eight months ago, recently quit because Press TV refused to offer him training or pay a portion of the cost of a journalism training course he wanted to take in Ankara. "He knew he wasn't a qualified journalist, and he wanted to become one, but they weren't interested in that. They just wanted him to keep filing mediocre reports from Ankara in good spoken English." She said the Ankara correspondent's resignation may prompt a few other correspondents in similar situations to do the same. The Istanbul correspondent also complained that Press TV was not willing to compile its own handbook of standards, leaving it to each correspondent to "figure out Press TV's standards and expectations by trial and error, report by report." She pointed to State/IIP's Persian-language brochure, "A Handbook of Independent Journalism," which Istanbul's Iran Watcher had shared with her previously, and said she wished she could share copies of that with her fellow Press TV correspondents, but she worried that doing so would likely get her fired. She said she is planning to travel to Tehran in October to visit Press TV headquarters, and will press her editors on the need for Press TV to offer professional training to its employees. Working on the side, waiting for new opportunities -------------- - ¶4. (C) To alleviate some of the professional and financial frustration of working for Press TV, she said she is increasingly taking on independent reporting projects from other regional satellite news channels. She described several current projects she is undertaking for Al-Jazeera, including reports on unsafe working conditions in Turkish shipyards and the challenges faced by ethnic Tartars in the Black Sea region. She hopes those projects might persuade Al-Jazeera to offer her a full-time job, though she plans to continue working for Press TV at least through the end of the year, for two reasons: (1) Press TV has reached an agreement to begin broadcasting its reports on UK's Sky TV starting in December, and she says she wants her parents in the UK to be able to see her reports on-air, and (2) She wants to contribute to Press TV's coverage of US Presidential elections, seeing such coverage as an opportunity, "even as an objective journalist," to "help bridge gaps between Iran and the West." Asked how she thinks Press TV will handle US election coverage, she said she has seen email traffic between Press TV editors in Tehran and its US-based correspondents, encouraging critical reporting of Senator McCain's presidential campaign, while encouraging more positive coverage of Senator Obama's campaign. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) Comment: Press TV's Istanbul correspondent has worked at Press TV for over a year, and admits that the experience has not been as professionally rewarding as she had hoped. She assessed that the editorial board "seems divided between a few real journalists who want to press the limits of what an Iranian news channel can report, and bring it at least up to Al-Jazeera's or Al-Arabiya's standards," and others on the board who are more ideological, and see it as nothing more than a mouthpiece for reinforcing the Iranian government's worldview. We reminded her of a comment she made to us seven months ago, that if Press TV tried to micromanage her stories she would resign (ref A),and she admitted she has come close to quitting, especially over the several reproaches she recently received from her editor. But in the end, she continues to believe that despite "the daily absurdities" of working for an Iranian media outlet, it is still a paying job that allows her to get on air and hone her craft. Moreover, she says she still holds out hope that the management style and views of the few "real journalists" on the editorial board will eventually prevail, and that Press TV may yet prove to be a valuable contributor of independently-minded news sories "that CNN and BBC still aren't willing to pursue." WIENER